So great to finally hear Ren really SING! And Chinchilla was the perfect collaborator for this song -- what else from Ren (or Chinchilla) should I analyze next?
And.... The Big Push - Praise You ( Fatboy Slim Cover ) . Ren's band with talented friends Romain Axisa and Gorran Kendall... lots of vocal variation in that too.
I'd add Diazepam. LOVE the vocals on that one, *and* it's a studio track, which provides an interesting alternate performing/listening/analysing experience (even tho the live stuff is WHERE IT'S AT, of course). In case Peter needs it, "Sheriff/Zion/Hip Hop" and "Wade in the Water/Nina Simone/Trouble So Hard" are found on The Big Push's TH-cam channel - the band Ren was in for 5 years before leaving for Canada for lengthy treatments to deal with the fallout from his Lyme disease. And - there are a number of videos out there of Ren singing I Shot the Sheriff and Road to Zion. PICK THE ONE FROM THE BIG PUSH with Ren in RED SUSPENDERS (and the title to that one includes Hip Hop). *THOSE* are the vocals you want. I mean, I haven't run into Ren doing a *poor* version of Sheriff or anything! But the red suspenders performance was flat-out ELECTRIC.
And also a mind-blowing livestream where he plays guitar, sings, raps, beatboxes. Shows how insanely talented he is: th-cam.com/video/HPQA1mlpX6Q/w-d-xo.htmlsi=FovyywQVHYV2TKoi
During his interview with Elizabeth from Charismatic Voice, Ren explained that he meticulously adjusts the mic levels in post to account for things like turning his head away from the mic. It's hours of work but means he can get an almost studio quality recording with the benefits of a dynamic, characterful live space and performance.
Chinchilla's voice is currently one of the finest extant (and criminally unrecognized). She can do almost anything. FINGERS LIVE is one of the most amazing examples of vocal gymnastics I've ever heard. ASTOUNDING!!
I second that Peter, you HAVE to listen to Sam he will blow your mind@@PeterBarber him & Ren busking in brighten (man's world) and more Corvyx please 🙂baby Corvyx here doing a live Nirvana cover. th-cam.com/video/VOhk-TDXqBY/w-d-xo.html he hits some notes at the end that will blow your mind.
*ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED* congratulations! You have found new ren friend chinchilla! She's great too, definitely worth a look at. I'm glad you finally got to some of rens vocals, loved your analysis of it! 😊💜💜
Ahaha this is so great. Next achievements at level 2-3-4 is Sam Tompkins/Big Push/Eden Nash, in no particular order Along with his musical talents, ren has a knack for collabing with the some of the most beautiful voices Id ever heard
Thank you for another unique and valuable reaction. Your vocal analysis goes deeper and more technical than any other reactor. RENegades like me crave this in depth look at where those incredible voices actually comes from. You might want to check out Ren’s collaboration with Sam Tompkins doing a mash up of Earned It/ Man’s World/ Falling. Both young men hit incredibly high notes while Ren plays the guitar. It’s a live street performance in front of a few hundred lucky people who stopped to listen.
I was fairly certain about that myself. I was kinda confused as he was talking about there possibly being a mic close to the guitar. I would have understood if he'd have been playing his acoustic guitar, but without an amp an electric guitar doesn't make much noise!
Fun reaction! Chinchilla has a lav mic too…listen to when she first comes in and runs her fingers through her hair. If you listen to Ren’s interview with the Charismatic voice, he goes into great detail about mixing these live recordings…but all that volume/distance control between their voices is fantastic mixing work on Ren’s part. He has to do a ton of manual volume and EQ work to make the lavs sound good even to just compensate for minor position changes (like turning his head). How to be Me is an obvious next choice.
The guitar is electric, and it's plugged into an amp wirelessly. You can see the amp when he's turning the corner. There's a red light from the amp on the wall. The amp is then routed directly to a Zoom or some other recording device, same with their voices. Ren then massages the mic recording with the guitar, you can see it's probably a mic'ed amp. But I'm not 100% sure because of the shallow depth of field in the camera. You can see the amp in the background at multiple times, but 4:09 (in the original video) is a decent view. In your video you stop at that frame at 25:09, you can see the amp. It looks like the amp has a mic on it, and possibly a third microphone for the ambience on the side? I really can't make out what the blurry messes are. Maybe someone has better luck. You can hear what his lapel microphone sounds like pretty raw and without much work if you check out (on your own time, there's no real point of you reacting to it) the Dumb King Come diss track. It really doesn't sound like he made much work on it besides compressing the fuck out of it. Also, Ren uses audio editing tools, for example Izotope RX 10. You can push down, or up, reverb/vocals/drums individually, even in a full mix. It's a great tool if you need to fix bleed in a drum mix, for example. I don't generally need it because I don't really record much messy live recordings. But I use it to mangle and adjust samples for other purposes.
You're probably 100% correct. They are mic'ing the guitar amp, using a mic on Ren, and have a room mic to utilize the room acoustics by what I am hearing.
Yeap, I think she also has a wearable MIC on her right shoulder but most of the time the hair is covering it.. in the beginning we can see the guitar transmitter led light. The beauty of electric guitars is that cords vibrations don't need to go through the air into a MIC, it goes like an induction cook top directly to the pickup coils... hum, I wonder how it would sound an electric guiar in the vacuum.... it should have a much better sustain ;) BTW I just found out about Ren last week, now I'm watching reactions and recommending to friends :)
Fuck yes, finally! I joined your patreon for the year so I could vote for ren on your next poll (haven’t seen one just yet) … you do some of my fave breakdowns for him ever!
Great reaction! I think his live acoustic singing is fantastic, especially in some of the busking videos with Sam Thompkins. He does some of that with his band the big push as well, but a lot of that are covers. Still, their Bongo Bong cover is probably my favorite song.
LOVE that you took the time to comment on how Ren pulls his voice on lyrics. Manipulation of the sung line like that, on unusual/surprising lyrics, is something I absolutely crave in modern music. I 100% agree that it's an invitation to vulnerability. Often, I also interpret it as "if this person was telling this story without singing, this is where they'd have a momentary loss of control of their voice in one way or another, due to the emotion threatening to overcome them." I find that even though Ren's singing the melody through this, there are beautiful moments where he pulls his voice while singing with Chinchilla... there, I don't think it's necessarily only what I described above; my brain interprets it that maybe he feels that the beauty of her harmony interplaying with the guitar is more important than the note(s) of the melody he himself is singing in that moment. Also, probably others have mentioned it already (already too many comments for me to feel certain that I sifted through them all, tonight!) but in case that's not the situation - I'm told Chinchilla's got to be mic'd. You can hear the rasp of her fingernails, near the beginning of her verse, when she pulls them lightly through her hair. Not that I know anything about sound recording/production, but my vague impression is that Ren's camera person's camera also usually has a mic that gets used, or occasionally a mic separate from the camera might be involved (as you suspected).
Thanks so much, Peter, glad you're seeing another side to Ren (our genre bending bard 🙂). I'd like to suggest the LIVE version of How to Be Me, another collab with Chinchilla. It's pretty spectacular. Thanks and HNY! EDIT: I'm thinking Chinchilla might be mic'd because in her initial verse, you can clearly hear her nails (I think) running across her forehead... not sure though.
Thank you for not feeling the need to talk through the beginning. That gives you BIG marks in my book. SO many reactors feel the need to fill that time with chatter. As though it is a "throw away" moment. It's not. It sets the mood to this wonderful performance. THANK YOU
What a great reaction. I enjoy your break down of the different vocal styles. Ren has said he spends more time adjusting sound volume to be even than anything else on this live performances.I think this is such a beautiful vocal from both of them, but feel like Ren does alter his part to make for those nice harmonies and blending of their voices. Would love to see you react to The Big Push medley I shot the sheriff / road to zion / hip hop. Just blows me away how his voice is so ever morphing into what he needs for each song.
LOVE your reactions! Chinchilla is miced. You can see it clipped to her collar when she first starts to sing (and hear it pick up her nails running though her hair in her opening moments.) After that her hair conceals it for the remainder of the video. Of all Ren's singing, I think his MOST IMPRESSIVE (and that's saying something) is WADE IN THE WATER/NINA SIMONE/TROUBLE SO HARD with his band The Big Push. It's astonishing.
This is one of my favorite Ren Songs, so I've watched a BUNCH of reactions to it. I've never heard someone nerd out this hard on Ren and Chinchilla's voices and vocal delivery! I mean that as a very sincere compliment! I found your analysis very interesting and informative (even if some of it was way over my head!). I appreciate the way you focus on voices and vocal delivery because that's your area of your expertise. That being said, sometimes I would kinda like to hear you talk about the lyrics and subject of the songs you are analyzing. I still really enjoy what you are doing with this channel! It brings out the inner music nerd in me. I have a basic internal understanding of what you are saying, I just don't know the terminology for some of it (Ok, a lot of it. I'm still trying to learn and better my vocabulary!).
You should check out Ren with The Big Push doing I shot the sheriff/road to zion/Hip hop (red suspenders) or him and The Big Push doing Wade in the Water/Trouble so hard/feeling good! Love your analysis!
I think the way they both play so intentionally with the dynamics here is incredibly appropriate, and useful, in conveying that tension between the intimacy, and almost internal thoughts aspect of the song, with the anger and frustration, as well as the highs and lows that both the emotional situation depicted and the medical intervention imply. I love it.
Great reaction - I've watched dozens of these for Chalk Outlines, and I never spotted that Chinchilla isn't mic'ed up. As for the guitar - you can see at 2:03 ish that he has a wireless unit plugged in (the thingy with the green light).
Apparently Chinchilla has @ least 1 Mic on her, it's near her hair or somewhere in around there & I'm sure there's a small 1 on the neck of her shirt, @ 18:26 you can hear the Sound of her hands run through her hair & her jewelery jingles but they go silent as soon as she sings her next line. Ren has two mic's, there's 1 on the neck of his T-shirt & 1 on his Guitar.
Absolutely loved this, thank you for your continued support of Ren. I did learn a lot about volume and distance/ vocal ranges from you in this reaction. Wonderful, Peter!
I love that you not only go into what makes a voice unique/special but you also give us a look at what was very likely happening on the production side as well. Thanks :)
Ren's vocals here are beautiful but you'll have to watch some of his live busking videos, particularly with his band 'The Big Push' or with Sam Tompkins, to hear Ren REALLY sing! :)
"How to Be Me (Live)" by these two is even better! The way they layer their voices and the performance- chills every time. Please consider that one next! Also, Chinchilla "Fingers (Live)" also a must! :)
Every one-take video that Ren does every aspect is thought about whether it be aesthetic or ambient you can tell how much effort went into it. Ren and Chinchilla are soooo good together they compliment each other perfectly.
The guitar was on a DI (Direct Input) via wireless. There is a blue lit plug in is the transmitter directly to the recording input, essentially it's own channel input via wireless.
I remember reading somewhere (or listening to Ren) that they used a direct pickup for the guitar, two lavaliers for Ren and Chinchilla, and a Mic for room ambience. It is so well mixed. If you listen very very closely you can hear that they really have to push the gain on Chinchillas mic when she sings really quietly.
I’m usually mesmerised by the song, but this time it was the quality of your technical analysis. Fantastic man, thanks so much for those insights… gonna jump on the Patreon!
For Chinchilla, check out Fingers, but make sure it's the live version. It's very different from the studio version, vocally and stylistically. If you want to check out another collab of Ren and Chinchilla, check out "How to Be Me". For me, it's far superior as a collaboration than this one.
Loved your reaction and analysis of this song! If you're interested in seeing more of Chinchilla she has some fantastic Live songs on her own, I really recommend Fingers Live for Hunger TV. Her other live one with Ren, How to be Me is also highly recommended.
To really hear Ren stretch his vocal capabilities, you'll want to listen to his duets with Sam Tompkins while busking. Specifically I'd say their performances of Walking On The Moon, Blind-Eyed, and especially Earned It/Man's World.
Ren’s guitar has a remote jack plug - when he picks up the guitar you can see the jack plug lit up. That would send a signal to an amp or sound desk. Love your reactions! Cheers
(15:49)The guitar has a wireless transmitter, therefore has it's own direct input in the mixer (making it pure sound). But it sounds like the guitar also plays out of an amp, therefore Ren's mic also picks up the ambiant sound. Saying that, now I believe there is 2 mics, Ren's and the camera's.
Awesome breakdown, thank you! As bizarre as this might sound, their other live collab "How to be me" is even better. Seriously it's utterly mindblowing. Chinchilla is a phenomenal talent. Listen to her stripped down live version of "Fingers" for Hunger TV and you'll see. Cheers!
The guitar is DI'd to a zoom device I believe, possibly through a wireless system. you can see he has something other than a cable plugged in when he picks it up. Also, I think Chinchilla has her own mic... Ren likes to meticulously mix his stuff. He used to use Rode lav mics, and he does a LOT of cleanup in post. He got good at his live mixing from producing his busking videos with Sam Tompkins and with The Big Push.
Even though 2024 has just started, I 100% guarantee that if you check out Chinchilla's "Fingers" live version, you will hear your favorite belt for the entire year.
You should dig into more Ren. I’m a 53 yr old huge music fan and Ren is THE most unique artist I’ve seen in my lifetime and he’s delivering very important messages in his songs. Check out Power, Illest of Our Time, Dominoes and of course the Jenny & Screech trilogy. But really check it all out. He’s a very important artist
The guitar has a wireless connection to the amp which is a few feet along the corridor. I enjoyed your analysis. I always learn something from your reactions.
They had the lapel mic (I believe they had one each - you can sometimes see Chinchilla's on her right shoulder under the hair) and there was a remote plug for the guitar (you can see the green led from it in some angles). Ren has said that he volume automates everything manually afterwards (not just slapping a compressor on). He spends hours and hours doing that for each recorded track. That's why even the live sessions sound like studio recordings but they still are picking up ambient noise like Chinchilla's jewlery when she runs her nails through her hair.
Ren can be really soulful in his singing too, which you might enjoy seeing. His live busking videos are awesome: earned it/man’s world/falling with Sam Tompkins or Wade in the Water/Nina Simone/Trouble so hard with his band the Big Push are well worth checking out.
you really need to react to Ren's The Tale of Jenny and Screech the full version. It is Shakespearean in lyrics, music, performance....EVERYTHING. I've never seen anything quite like it and I think you would be absolutely blown away
Really REALLY should do "How to be Me" now with these two. It's even more absolutely amazing! Hopefully asap because I just know you'll go nuts for it! 😊
Wow , I hope you go back and listen to this all the way through. I can't imagine you wouldn't . This is my first time visiting you channel I really enjoyed it . I have looked through your comments and can see plenty of recommendations. There is one I haven't seen . It is Ren and Chinchilla playing 8n the street ( busking) . There are to clips , I am going to recommend their cover of Marvin Gay's Sexual Healing. Definitely worth your time . Also this session is the only time Chinchilla has sung in the street . Ren is a bit of a master at finding acousticly pleasing spot .
Great reaction!!! For more of Ren's singing voice I would recommend The Big Push - Wade in the Water/ Nina Simone/ Trouble so Hard (absolutely amazing!) and Ren - Murderer (Live Acoustic Video)❤
This was great to watch, just 2 of the best untrained singers letting the emotion of the lyrics and story flow through them. Raw and live is so much better than overproduced. Anything The Big Push (Rens former band) is worth your time, the "wade in the water/nina simone/trouble so hard" mashup shows Rens pure soul voice and the bands talent.
If you really want to hear the true beauty of Ren's singing voice, you need to react to "I shot the Sheriff / Road to Zion" mash up he does with his old band "The Big Push". His vocals will blow you away! Stunning!
Oh, and if I recall, there's mic's at both Ren and Chinchilla's throats. There's also another one on the camera. The guitar has a wireless pickup on it. Ren's a producer as well, he blended the audio sources together by hand.
Wow... this is so interesting to me, ive always written songs and poetry since i was about 14 years old, started mostly with hip hop and have ventured into different experimental stuff but seeing it from this perspective of a singer and the breakdown of it all was very cool and interesting. Excited to see more stuff... subbed. Thanks for the great reaction. Especially useful since ive just decided to try to learn to read music and play guitar this year finally after only being a writer and vocalist this gives a good unique perspective that ive never really paid any mind too in music. Thanks again for the very informative reaction!
We really NEED you to interview Ren. He seems very open to supporting reactors and I believe he would really appreciate your very educated questions and opinions. Thank you Peter.
So great to finally hear Ren really SING! And Chinchilla was the perfect collaborator for this song -- what else from Ren (or Chinchilla) should I analyze next?
Ren - How To Be Me with Chinchilla Live would be my next pick. You should also check out "The Big Push", Ren was a member of that band.
How to be me,live version, must be next! 😊
And if you want to do just chinchilla, check out her video for fingers (live) 😊
Scary thing is this is just a glimpse of Chinchilla’s range! Now, “Fingers” (live for Hunger TV) is another level again 😉
Please - Ren & Sam Tompkins - Earned it /Mans World / Falling
You really should do “How To Be Me” live by these two. More straight singing by Ren and Chinchilla! ❤️🎶
Came to suggest the same song.
Yup deffo. I came to say the same thing.
I'll add another vote for it!
And.... The Big Push - Praise You ( Fatboy Slim Cover ) . Ren's band with talented friends Romain Axisa and Gorran Kendall... lots of vocal variation in that too.
On How To Be Me they are so incredibly in sync it gives me shivers
I'd recommand Chinchilla's live version of either "fingers" or "little girl gone". You're going to love her, she is a STAR
I absolutly Second this! ❤
Fwiw I think fingers is a better choice - it's an amazing vocal showcase
But do the Live version please! There is so much to talk about voice there!
Another vote for "Fingers" Live - it'll blow yer little cotton socks off!
@@ashebanow for personal taste i agree but the requiem version of little girl gone is absolutely amazing
For Ren's singing voice:
- I Shot the Sherrif/Road to Zion...
- Wade in the Water/Nina Simone...
- Earned it/Man's World...
Those are perfect examples as well as, How To Be Me, with Chinchilla.
I'd add Diazepam. LOVE the vocals on that one, *and* it's a studio track, which provides an interesting alternate performing/listening/analysing experience (even tho the live stuff is WHERE IT'S AT, of course).
In case Peter needs it, "Sheriff/Zion/Hip Hop" and "Wade in the Water/Nina Simone/Trouble So Hard" are found on The Big Push's TH-cam channel - the band Ren was in for 5 years before leaving for Canada for lengthy treatments to deal with the fallout from his Lyme disease.
And - there are a number of videos out there of Ren singing I Shot the Sheriff and Road to Zion. PICK THE ONE FROM THE BIG PUSH with Ren in RED SUSPENDERS (and the title to that one includes Hip Hop). *THOSE* are the vocals you want. I mean, I haven't run into Ren doing a *poor* version of Sheriff or anything! But the red suspenders performance was flat-out ELECTRIC.
Seconding, especially The BIg Push's I Shot the Sherrif/Road to Zion/Hip Hop
And also a mind-blowing livestream where he plays guitar, sings, raps, beatboxes. Shows how insanely talented he is:
th-cam.com/video/HPQA1mlpX6Q/w-d-xo.htmlsi=FovyywQVHYV2TKoi
Thanks for the suggestions!
During his interview with Elizabeth from Charismatic Voice, Ren explained that he meticulously adjusts the mic levels in post to account for things like turning his head away from the mic. It's hours of work but means he can get an almost studio quality recording with the benefits of a dynamic, characterful live space and performance.
They have snother live duet called How To Be Me. Also if you want to hear Chinchilla really blow, then check out her live performance of Fingers
Chinchilla's voice is currently one of the finest extant (and criminally unrecognized). She can do almost anything. FINGERS LIVE is one of the most amazing examples of vocal gymnastics I've ever heard. ASTOUNDING!!
To get more of Ren singing, dive into his band "The Big Push".
Don’t forget the red suspenders!
I’d love to see you do some of Rens busking with Sam Tompkins or his band The Big Push :)
Thanks so much!
I second that Peter, you HAVE to listen to Sam he will blow your mind@@PeterBarber him & Ren busking in brighten (man's world) and more Corvyx please 🙂baby Corvyx here doing a live Nirvana cover. th-cam.com/video/VOhk-TDXqBY/w-d-xo.html he hits some notes at the end that will blow your mind.
*ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED* congratulations! You have found new ren friend chinchilla! She's great too, definitely worth a look at. I'm glad you finally got to some of rens vocals, loved your analysis of it! 😊💜💜
Love the comment.
Ahaha this is so great. Next achievements at level 2-3-4 is Sam Tompkins/Big Push/Eden Nash, in no particular order
Along with his musical talents, ren has a knack for collabing with the some of the most beautiful voices Id ever heard
@@LeeannG I say that Ren is a "Talent curator" and the incredible artists he's collected around him is a testament to his fine senses
Thank you for another unique and valuable reaction. Your vocal analysis goes deeper and more technical than any other reactor. RENegades like me crave this in depth look at where those incredible voices actually comes from. You might want to check out Ren’s collaboration with Sam Tompkins doing a mash up of Earned It/ Man’s World/ Falling. Both young men hit incredibly high notes while Ren plays the guitar. It’s a live street performance in front of a few hundred lucky people who stopped to listen.
Definitely second that. As well as his Nina Simone /wade in the water/something else video of him busking with the Big Push.
Came here to say the same on all points
The guitar is linked up via a Bluetooth input
It’s easiest to see right when he sits down-can see the blue led on it.
I was fairly certain about that myself. I was kinda confused as he was talking about there possibly being a mic close to the guitar. I would have understood if he'd have been playing his acoustic guitar, but without an amp an electric guitar doesn't make much noise!
Fun reaction! Chinchilla has a lav mic too…listen to when she first comes in and runs her fingers through her hair. If you listen to Ren’s interview with the Charismatic voice, he goes into great detail about mixing these live recordings…but all that volume/distance control between their voices is fantastic mixing work on Ren’s part. He has to do a ton of manual volume and EQ work to make the lavs sound good even to just compensate for minor position changes (like turning his head).
How to be Me is an obvious next choice.
Yep, the mic is actually pretty crappy. This sound quality is all from his hours and hours of be mixing!
these comments! Ren breaks all the laws of what is possible with basic hardware with amazing attention to detail while mastering...
The guitar is electric, and it's plugged into an amp wirelessly. You can see the amp when he's turning the corner. There's a red light from the amp on the wall. The amp is then routed directly to a Zoom or some other recording device, same with their voices. Ren then massages the mic recording with the guitar, you can see it's probably a mic'ed amp. But I'm not 100% sure because of the shallow depth of field in the camera. You can see the amp in the background at multiple times, but 4:09 (in the original video) is a decent view. In your video you stop at that frame at 25:09, you can see the amp. It looks like the amp has a mic on it, and possibly a third microphone for the ambience on the side? I really can't make out what the blurry messes are. Maybe someone has better luck.
You can hear what his lapel microphone sounds like pretty raw and without much work if you check out (on your own time, there's no real point of you reacting to it) the Dumb King Come diss track. It really doesn't sound like he made much work on it besides compressing the fuck out of it.
Also, Ren uses audio editing tools, for example Izotope RX 10. You can push down, or up, reverb/vocals/drums individually, even in a full mix. It's a great tool if you need to fix bleed in a drum mix, for example. I don't generally need it because I don't really record much messy live recordings. But I use it to mangle and adjust samples for other purposes.
You're probably 100% correct. They are mic'ing the guitar amp, using a mic on Ren, and have a room mic to utilize the room acoustics by what I am hearing.
He's using a CUVAVE Wireless Guitar System Transmitter on the guitar and will have a look alike receiver.
Yeap, I think she also has a wearable MIC on her right shoulder but most of the time the hair is covering it.. in the beginning we can see the guitar transmitter led light. The beauty of electric guitars is that cords vibrations don't need to go through the air into a MIC, it goes like an induction cook top directly to the pickup coils... hum, I wonder how it would sound an electric guiar in the vacuum.... it should have a much better sustain ;) BTW I just found out about Ren last week, now I'm watching reactions and recommending to friends :)
Ren is such a fascinating artist to me. This is the first piece of his that I actually added to a playlist. So thanks for adding to my music library.
18:24 - she must have a mic, you can hear her earing 'clacking'.
Great reaction, you are one of my favourites for Ren. Do more!
Yeap on her right shoulder. It wouldn't make sense other way.
Fuck yes, finally! I joined your patreon for the year so I could vote for ren on your next poll (haven’t seen one just yet) … you do some of my fave breakdowns for him ever!
❤❤ #Ren ❤❤
Those two together are such a treat. Well worth checking out their busking and live performances.
Great reaction! I think his live acoustic singing is fantastic, especially in some of the busking videos with Sam Thompkins.
He does some of that with his band the big push as well, but a lot of that are covers. Still, their Bongo Bong cover is probably my favorite song.
ren is a fan of jeff buckleys singing style which is why he changes the ending of the words where he sings the soft notes that you mentioned ,
LOVE that you took the time to comment on how Ren pulls his voice on lyrics. Manipulation of the sung line like that, on unusual/surprising lyrics, is something I absolutely crave in modern music. I 100% agree that it's an invitation to vulnerability. Often, I also interpret it as "if this person was telling this story without singing, this is where they'd have a momentary loss of control of their voice in one way or another, due to the emotion threatening to overcome them."
I find that even though Ren's singing the melody through this, there are beautiful moments where he pulls his voice while singing with Chinchilla... there, I don't think it's necessarily only what I described above; my brain interprets it that maybe he feels that the beauty of her harmony interplaying with the guitar is more important than the note(s) of the melody he himself is singing in that moment.
Also, probably others have mentioned it already (already too many comments for me to feel certain that I sifted through them all, tonight!) but in case that's not the situation - I'm told Chinchilla's got to be mic'd. You can hear the rasp of her fingernails, near the beginning of her verse, when she pulls them lightly through her hair. Not that I know anything about sound recording/production, but my vague impression is that Ren's camera person's camera also usually has a mic that gets used, or occasionally a mic separate from the camera might be involved (as you suspected).
Thanks so much, Peter, glad you're seeing another side to Ren (our genre bending bard 🙂). I'd like to suggest the LIVE version of How to Be Me, another collab with Chinchilla. It's pretty spectacular. Thanks and HNY!
EDIT: I'm thinking Chinchilla might be mic'd because in her initial verse, you can clearly hear her nails (I think) running across her forehead... not sure though.
Thank you for not feeling the need to talk through the beginning. That gives you BIG marks in my book. SO many reactors feel the need to fill that time with chatter. As though it is a "throw away" moment. It's not. It sets the mood to this wonderful performance. THANK YOU
That was really enjoyable. My first time hearing Chinchilla too so that added to my appreciation of your analysis.
Highly recommend going and watching "How to be Me" live by these two. It's definitely a treat. They are incredibly great together.
What a great reaction. I enjoy your break down of the different vocal styles. Ren has said he spends more time adjusting sound volume to be even than anything else on this live performances.I think this is such a beautiful vocal from both of them, but feel like Ren does alter his part to make for those nice harmonies and blending of their voices. Would love to see you react to The Big Push medley I shot the sheriff / road to zion / hip hop. Just blows me away how his voice is so ever morphing into what he needs for each song.
LOVE your reactions! Chinchilla is miced. You can see it clipped to her collar when she first starts to sing (and hear it pick up her nails running though her hair in her opening moments.) After that her hair conceals it for the remainder of the video.
Of all Ren's singing, I think his MOST IMPRESSIVE (and that's saying something) is WADE IN THE WATER/NINA SIMONE/TROUBLE SO HARD with his band The Big Push. It's astonishing.
This is one of my favorite Ren Songs, so I've watched a BUNCH of reactions to it. I've never heard someone nerd out this hard on Ren and Chinchilla's voices and vocal delivery! I mean that as a very sincere compliment! I found your analysis very interesting and informative (even if some of it was way over my head!).
I appreciate the way you focus on voices and vocal delivery because that's your area of your expertise. That being said, sometimes I would kinda like to hear you talk about the lyrics and subject of the songs you are analyzing. I still really enjoy what you are doing with this channel! It brings out the inner music nerd in me. I have a basic internal understanding of what you are saying, I just don't know the terminology for some of it (Ok, a lot of it. I'm still trying to learn and better my vocabulary!).
Ayeeeeeeee! Can't wait for you to hear Chinchilla too - together they are pure magic ✨❤🔥🥰
One of my favorite things is seeing someone experiencing something they genuinely love & seeing the joy it brings them. Thank you for sharing
Loved this. Next - Ren & Sam Tompkins - Earned it /Mans World / Falling
Great reaction
I feel like we just sat thru class with Professor Barber.
Awesome.
Thank you for doing this
I hope you are well man
Take care
Daz
Not sure if you have reacted to it already or not, but Ren's acoustic cover of Murderer has some really great vocal flairs. Worth a watch!
You should check out Ren with The Big Push doing I shot the sheriff/road to zion/Hip hop (red suspenders) or him and The Big Push doing Wade in the Water/Trouble so hard/feeling good! Love your analysis!
Great reaction! I would also love to hear your reaction to Ren singing with his band The Big Push, specifically their cover of the song Bongo Bongo.
I think the way they both play so intentionally with the dynamics here is incredibly appropriate, and useful, in conveying that tension between the intimacy, and almost internal thoughts aspect of the song, with the anger and frustration, as well as the highs and lows that both the emotional situation depicted and the medical intervention imply. I love it.
Thank you for this reaction and for providing an explanation that someone like myself (musically ignorant) can understand. Subscribed. 😊
Great reaction - I've watched dozens of these for Chalk Outlines, and I never spotted that Chinchilla isn't mic'ed up.
As for the guitar - you can see at 2:03 ish that he has a wireless unit plugged in (the thingy with the green light).
CUVAVE Wireless Guitar System Transmitter 😊
Apparently Chinchilla has @ least 1 Mic on her,
it's near her hair or somewhere in around there & I'm sure there's a small 1 on the neck of her shirt, @ 18:26 you can hear the Sound of her hands run through her hair & her jewelery jingles but they go silent as soon as she sings her next line.
Ren has two mic's, there's 1 on the neck of his T-shirt & 1 on his Guitar.
Absolutely loved this, thank you for your continued support of Ren. I did learn a lot about volume and distance/ vocal ranges from you in this reaction. Wonderful, Peter!
I love that you not only go into what makes a voice unique/special but you also give us a look at what was very likely happening on the production side as well. Thanks :)
Check out "How To Be Me" live by Ren and Chinchilla as well. It's great!
You should really do their song How to be Me. Live version.
Awesome. I was hoping you’d do more Renny Boi. Your perspective is always interesting to me. See you in a few days!! 🌹
Ren's vocals here are beautiful but you'll have to watch some of his live busking videos, particularly with his band 'The Big Push' or with Sam Tompkins, to hear Ren REALLY sing! :)
Yes
I really love singing this song, it just flows fun & it's a lovely description of chronic illness, something I've dealt with for over 30 years.
how to be me is another great one with them, and there is an old busking one, but i cant recall the title but both are excellent
Really enjoyed your incite to their singing. I learned a few things too so thank you sir!
"How to Be Me (Live)" by these two is even better! The way they layer their voices and the performance- chills every time. Please consider that one next! Also, Chinchilla "Fingers (Live)" also a must! :)
Their next one how to be me live for sure.
Her fingers live video should be pretty entertaining for you to analyze.
Every one-take video that Ren does every aspect is thought about whether it be aesthetic or ambient you can tell how much effort went into it.
Ren and Chinchilla are soooo good together they compliment each other perfectly.
The guitar was on a DI (Direct Input) via wireless. There is a blue lit plug in is the transmitter directly to the recording input, essentially it's own channel input via wireless.
I had wondered about the mic placement and without a background in this, guessed a mic was on the camera. Thanks for breakdown Peter.
I remember reading somewhere (or listening to Ren) that they used a direct pickup for the guitar, two lavaliers for Ren and Chinchilla, and a Mic for room ambience. It is so well mixed. If you listen very very closely you can hear that they really have to push the gain on Chinchillas mic when she sings really quietly.
Really good reaction explaining singing techniques - very enjoyable ❤
I’m usually mesmerised by the song, but this time it was the quality of your technical analysis. Fantastic man, thanks so much for those insights… gonna jump on the Patreon!
For Chinchilla, check out Fingers, but make sure it's the live version. It's very different from the studio version, vocally and stylistically. If you want to check out another collab of Ren and Chinchilla, check out "How to Be Me". For me, it's far superior as a collaboration than this one.
Loved your reaction and analysis of this song! If you're interested in seeing more of Chinchilla she has some fantastic Live songs on her own, I really recommend Fingers Live for Hunger TV. Her other live one with Ren, How to be Me is also highly recommended.
To really hear Ren stretch his vocal capabilities, you'll want to listen to his duets with Sam Tompkins while busking. Specifically I'd say their performances of Walking On The Moon, Blind-Eyed, and especially Earned It/Man's World.
Ren’s guitar has a remote jack plug - when he picks up the guitar you can see the jack plug lit up. That would send a signal to an amp or sound desk. Love your reactions! Cheers
(15:49)The guitar has a wireless transmitter, therefore has it's own direct input in the mixer (making it pure sound). But it sounds like the guitar also plays out of an amp, therefore Ren's mic also picks up the ambiant sound.
Saying that, now I believe there is 2 mics, Ren's and the camera's.
Chinchilla Fingers live for HungerTV is a MUST SEE for an incredible vocal performance!
Awesome breakdown, thank you! As bizarre as this might sound, their other live collab "How to be me" is even better. Seriously it's utterly mindblowing. Chinchilla is a phenomenal talent. Listen to her stripped down live version of "Fingers" for Hunger TV and you'll see. Cheers!
No doubt. It's wonderful.
The guitar is DI'd to a zoom device I believe, possibly through a wireless system. you can see he has something other than a cable plugged in when he picks it up.
Also, I think Chinchilla has her own mic... Ren likes to meticulously mix his stuff. He used to use Rode lav mics, and he does a LOT of cleanup in post.
He got good at his live mixing from producing his busking videos with Sam Tompkins and with The Big Push.
I was very excited to see you react to this song: both Ren’s singing AND Chincilla! 😁
Even though 2024 has just started, I 100% guarantee that if you check out Chinchilla's "Fingers" live version, you will hear your favorite belt for the entire year.
Great analysis ....and now - one more time, just listening for the song and the emotions...😉
You should dig into more Ren. I’m a 53 yr old huge music fan and Ren is THE most unique artist I’ve seen in my lifetime and he’s delivering very important messages in his songs. Check out Power, Illest of Our Time, Dominoes and of course the Jenny & Screech trilogy. But really check it all out. He’s a very important artist
The guitar has a wireless connection to the amp which is a few feet along the corridor. I enjoyed your analysis. I always learn something from your reactions.
There are several songs off his new album that is just singing as well as him busking on the streets with his old band "The big Push".
They had the lapel mic (I believe they had one each - you can sometimes see Chinchilla's on her right shoulder under the hair) and there was a remote plug for the guitar (you can see the green led from it in some angles). Ren has said that he volume automates everything manually afterwards (not just slapping a compressor on). He spends hours and hours doing that for each recorded track. That's why even the live sessions sound like studio recordings but they still are picking up ambient noise like Chinchilla's jewlery when she runs her nails through her hair.
Ren’s Back on 74 with Message in a bottle is super different and awesome❤️
28:37 Chinchilla has trained and its very powerful and beautiful
Fingers live and how to be me 🇨🇦
Ren can be really soulful in his singing too, which you might enjoy seeing. His live busking videos are awesome: earned it/man’s world/falling with Sam Tompkins or Wade in the Water/Nina Simone/Trouble so hard with his band the Big Push are well worth checking out.
you really need to react to Ren's The Tale of Jenny and Screech the full version. It is Shakespearean in lyrics, music, performance....EVERYTHING. I've never seen anything quite like it and I think you would be absolutely blown away
Really REALLY should do "How to be Me" now with these two. It's even more absolutely amazing!
Hopefully asap because I just know you'll go nuts for it! 😊
Wow , I hope you go back and listen to this all the way through. I can't imagine you wouldn't . This is my first time visiting you channel I really enjoyed it . I have looked through your comments and can see plenty of recommendations. There is one I haven't seen . It is Ren and Chinchilla playing 8n the street ( busking) . There are to clips , I am going to recommend their cover of Marvin Gay's Sexual Healing. Definitely worth your time . Also this session is the only time Chinchilla has sung in the street . Ren is a bit of a master at finding acousticly pleasing spot .
Great reaction and analysis of both of their voices. I definitely learned lot!
Great reaction!!! For more of Ren's singing voice I would recommend The Big Push - Wade in the Water/ Nina Simone/ Trouble so Hard (absolutely amazing!) and Ren - Murderer (Live Acoustic Video)❤
27:45 -- this reminded me of that scene from Sister Act, where Whoopi poked the shy nun in the gut until she learned how to belt :D
You should absolutely listen to The Big Push, which is the band Ren was in. They do a lot of covers. Black Sabbath’s War Pigs is great!
Ren has said that he and Chinchilla are the perfect musical siblings, and it’s 100% true ❤❤
Great reaction! I'm relatively new to this duo, and I already love this song 👍
If you haven't seen How to be Me, live by them it's also absolutely incredible!
Ren is such a legend and as a fellow Brightonian I'm very proud.
This was great to watch, just 2 of the best untrained singers letting the emotion of the lyrics and story flow through them. Raw and live is so much better than overproduced. Anything The Big Push (Rens former band) is worth your time, the "wade in the water/nina simone/trouble so hard" mashup shows Rens pure soul voice and the bands talent.
Ren is self taught. Chinchilla has studied for years to develop her preferred style. (Per her interview with Chris Liepe)
REALLY enjoy your vocal breakdowns. So good!! Thank you!
Ren is clearly talented and he surrounds himself with very talented people as well. Chinchilla Fingers LIVE is amazing!
Oooo! Ok you have my attention..... in 6 days apparently lol
Yeah. Definitely "Fingers Live for Hunger TV" for Chinchilla. Really showcases her voice.
If you really want to hear the true beauty of Ren's singing voice, you need to react to "I shot the Sheriff / Road to Zion" mash up he does with his old band "The Big Push". His vocals will blow you away! Stunning!
Ren singing wade in the water is supper amazing also bob marley
A big must is ren” the tale of Jenny and screech with violet the trilogy “
Definitely think you should check Ren and Chinchilla doing “How to be Me”(Live) !!
Oh, and if I recall, there's mic's at both Ren and Chinchilla's throats. There's also another one on the camera. The guitar has a wireless pickup on it. Ren's a producer as well, he blended the audio sources together by hand.
I love your reaction to this. Hope you do more Ren! I’ll be there for it!!❤
Wow... this is so interesting to me, ive always written songs and poetry since i was about 14 years old, started mostly with hip hop and have ventured into different experimental stuff but seeing it from this perspective of a singer and the breakdown of it all was very cool and interesting. Excited to see more stuff... subbed. Thanks for the great reaction. Especially useful since ive just decided to try to learn to read music and play guitar this year finally after only being a writer and vocalist this gives a good unique perspective that ive never really paid any mind too in music. Thanks again for the very informative reaction!
Another masterpiece composition from Ren! :)
Oh brother she has all the capabilities! Check out her other live solo and with Ren. Also Ren and Sam Tompkins busking❤
In the spirit of the season… You have good brains 🧟♀️. 🙂thank you for spending some time with us!
Great analysis. Thanks 👍
definitely must react to Chinchilla Fingers Live for Hunger TV. Epic performance.
We really NEED you to interview Ren. He seems very open to supporting reactors and I believe he would really appreciate your very educated questions and opinions. Thank you Peter.