Nice tits Jester. How much did they cost?

Oh yeah. Hi. I'm Hoppers.

Sorry you missed the show.

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Venue acoustics

CAS wrote:
I have read some fan reviews of Lambert's concerts, and several mention sound issues. Say he sounds like a chipmunk, or on helium. Haven't heard of such a phenomenon before. Do you guys know what they are talking about, and what causes it? They say that wearing earplugs helps.


Jestercide wrote:
to quote myself at a gig from a few years ago.. 'Turn the high-end down, or i'll cut ya.."


CAS wrote:
Jestercide wrote:
CAS wrote:
So, are you saying the sound guy has the mic balance skewed for high frequencies and is dampening the lower ones? I heard a rumor the sound guy was just fired. Maybe that's why?


essentially.
Probably also ahs to do with not EQ-ing relative to each venue's acoustics, and not dampening highs/lows in other instruments to give Adam more room.. since he's probbaly more heavily compressed that all the others, his voice generally will sound either clipped, or too open... which gives you ridiculous high overtones.


I think I am following you. I know about the physics of sound and frequencies, but not about sound systems. If the highs of the instruments are not dampened the voice sounds clipped because there is not room for the higher frequencies? and If the lows are not dampened, Adam's lower frequencies are reduced, leaving the higher overtones to over power? But, why would Adam's voice be more heavily compressed than the instruments?


CAS wrote:
Jestercide wrote:
You're pretty much on the money.

He would be more compressed because.... well, if you've ever heard raw vocals they prety much sound like they're been recorded in a metal shower cubicle... ultra tinny and the highs can actually produce full octave-up overtones.
Since Adam is a particularly high, but heavy singer.. his volume vs. pitch ratio is really high, so as he sings louder hte more overtones you'll hear.. almost all of whcih will be high due to high-end being harder to EQ out of the mix without losing some tone quality.


Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense. I didn't know the job of sound man was that complex. Certainly the overtones in Adam's voice are part of what makes it sound so full yet bright and ringing. Also explains why he sings full out in sound checks even tho he is trying to protect and save his voice. It would be impossible to set the balances and EQ if he wasn't producing the overtones and volume he will in performance.

Is sound mixing done "by ear" or are by gauges that represent the frequencies, or both?


terraj wrote:
Jestercide wrote:
its probably bullshit that he couldn't hear himself or the band. How could you possible be singing and not hear yourself? How you could you be on stage will a full band, and not hear them? Obviously the audience would put you off a bit, but that comes with the territory.. y'know.. of peforming to an audience.

I've never performed WITH an in-ear monitor and never had anyone comment on anything but minor fuck ups, never felt particularly uncomfortable.
I don't really see how it would make a HUGE difference, especially since (as far as i know) you don't use monitors during musicals.


I think there's a huge difference between singing in a musical where audience is silent (for the most part) in an auditorium with great acoustics, compared to a rock concert where people are screaming and completely drowning out your own voice (plus it gives the band the freedom to move around as well without being affected by sudden changes in acoustics).

Here's a good article w.r.t the Beatles that discusses this http://www.talaske.com/?p=453

In ear monitors also help protect the musicians from suffering from long term hearing loss + other benefits. Here's an article that goes into some technical aspects http://www.sensaphonics.com/downloads/church1.pdf
And another: http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles ... le_id=2115

ETA: Here's a short audio clip (it's the last clip) of what the guitarist of Adam's band, Monte, had to say about the sound issues during the AMAs
http://www.rockstarweekly.com/monte-pittman.html
Direct link here: http://www.rockstarweekly.com/mp3/montepittman/13.mp3

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Autotune?

Jestercide wrote:
So uhh.. i've found a couple of examples of Adam using autotune... in the line "have a ball" in Pick U Up at about 1:37 , the bolded is auto-tuned, as is the melisma at 2:25 in Can't Let You Go! I'm sure there's more, but i've picked up on these specifically.


JRB wrote:
To be fair, autotune (even if just very faint pitch correction) is in about 99% of music today and Adam probably had no say in the production of any of his songs. It's cheaper than booking the studio time to do take after take to get natural vocals sounding perfectly ironed out. And yes, I can see why they could possibly use it on Adam, as his performances aren't always 100% pitch perfect, but the problems he does encounter are pretty unimportant when looking at the big picture of the performance.


JRB wrote:
It's incredibly difficult to sing an entire song, on stage or in the studio, all the way through in one take without having even the slightest of technical or pitch issues. We all know Lambert can sing extremely well and I doubt there are many who are extremely bothered by the fact that maybe there was a slightly less than perfetc moment the was ironed out ever so slightly.

Hell, even the very beginning of his epic D5 in the live Feeling Good was a tad shaky before he smoothed it out.


===================================================================
Infamous For Your Entertainment

JRB wrote:
Your right, that is a very hard song to sing because there aren't a lot of places to take breaths. His lower register is also not his strength. In the studio version, the verses are quite low (for him) and in a way dont really sound like him pobably because of studio "trickery".

As for the higher notes... well, I dunno. Thats usually his strong suit and he sure sounded good on Sure Fire Winners singing higher notes. Maybe he'll get better at this one.


JRB wrote:
Mumei wrote:
JRB wrote:
The studio version is an incredibly challenging performance. He's definitely found ways to phrase it that make it work better for him live.


When you say that it's incredibly challenging, what do you mean? Because it seems like it's mostly challenging from the standpoint of making his tone sound the way it does in the studio.


Well then that's part of it too. He's definitely improved from the first performance. The verses are much lower than he normally singes.

There are parts (mostly the bridge really) that he just can't seem to reproduce live. Don't know whether it's phrasing, melody, or tone or whatever, but every time he tries to sing it like the record it turns out like the AMA performance. The riff he does on the word "scream" is really incredible hard, especially at the register, so he just changes it to one big glissando.


JRB wrote:
Try singing the bridge section of FYE (and singing ti well) and you'll see why it's difficult.

I personally like the track, but it seems to have given Lambert a fair bit of grief.


beyonddeities wrote:
Yeah, I get it. The song has no real pause, it just keeps going, and no space for any showing off at the vocals besides the bridge...


terraj wrote:
JRB wrote:
Although can can tell his vocals are very digitally processed on FYE, especially in the verses. He was never able to sing that live very well. His tone in the studio version is much darker and warmer, whereas it becomes somewhat nasally live.



Actually he improved the live vocals of the song significantly in subsequent performances around April. He made the tone warmer in these subsequent incarnations. It translates better to TV (although what I've heard is that the performances prior to that sounded much better live than what the crappy audio recorders from consumer cameras were able to capture)


terraj wrote:
And yes, it's a very hard song to sing live because it lacks breathing spaces and comprises vocal layers, but I think he's found a good balance in the subsequent live versions


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Illustrious Pick U UP

Mumei wrote:
spaner wrote:
mr wrote:
But did you listen to the part I mentioned? I'd like to know what you think. There are something like 30 secs there that he is singing and I can't detect him breathing at all...

They just glued the separately sung lines together in the studio.


You sure? I mean, they could have, but based on what I've heard from him in the past, I don't know that it is out of the realm of possibility.


cougar wrote:
I am not going to keep telling y'all that I am not a technically skilled musician or singer....last time right here, right now. I am starting to give myself an inferiority complex !!
Moving on...in relation to this post which I also saw in the Lambert thread, I have a question which I have posed before, and nobody really convinced me that what I think is wrong. The bridge in "Pick You Up" at the 2:23 - 2:43 mark. Real or Memorex? Because I think it is his third lung....real. Convince me it is contrived? Great video, btw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUP4cUSoV-4

stargazer121 wrote:
stargazer121 wrote:
JRB wrote:
Definitely multiple takes edited together.


Adam in a live performance singing feeling Good on AI, is absolutely belting out a high note for 15 seconds long. With less volume I reckon it is absolutely possible he could therefore do 20 seconds but on Pick U Up I really don't know. I'm no expert and I've not found an unplugged version of it so I'm 50/50.


Well if Morton (who I love) can sing a sustained 20 second note in "Summer Moved On" then absolutely Adam Lambert can too. I'm also doubtful Lambert would agree to the studio using multiple takes stitched together to enhance his breath support to 20 seconds in his track "Pick U Up". (I also think he's too talented and honest a guy to create a false inpression and doesn't need to). I'm swinging to Lambert doing it for real


cougar wrote:
JRB wrote:
Also, in Pick U Up, you can hear a cut in the vocal take around 2:34, between the phrases "...screamed oh brother/where are you.."


Yeah, I'm convinced. I think there is a break or maybe two..in the phrases from 2:23 - 2:34, too.

How about 2:35 - 2:50 , JRB? Any cuts there?


JRB wrote:
Possibly between the worlds "life" and "I've". But thats where he'd take a breath anyway. Plus, that section there wouldn't be the most difficult to sing in one deep breath.


====================================================================
Miscellaneous Stuff (random order)

AMA For Your Entertainment
The Early Show Music Again
The Early Show Whataya Want From Me
Letterman Whataya Want From Me
Oprah Whataya Want From Me
Oprah If I Had You
Ellen Whataya Want From Me
Ellen Strut
Ellen If I Had You
The View Whataya Want From Me
Whataya Want From Me SYTYCD
GLAAD Fever
GLAAD Music Again
Adam Lambert sings Star Spangled Banner at ADL Event 12/9/09
Whataya Want From Me (Take 40 Australia(03-09-10)
Sleepwalker Accoustic NovaFM
Mad World Sydney Marble Bar Hilton 8/3/10
Australia's Sunrise - Whataya Want From Me
Whataya Want From Me (Radio NRJ.de)(04-30-10)
Broken Open (Live at Berns in Stockholm 31-03-2010)
Down The Rabbit Hole (Live at Berns in Stockholm 31-03-2010)
Whataya Want from Me and Sleepwalker (Live at Berns in Stockholm 31-03-2010)
Mad World (Live at Berns in Stockholm 31-03-2010)
Whataya Want From Me (Blick.ch Switzerland)(06-01-10)
Sleepwalker (Blick.ch Switzerland)(06-01-10)
Sleepwalker Zurich May 3 2010
Mad World - Zurich May 3 2010
Zurich - Whataya Want From Me
Music Again - Zurich May 3 2010
Whataya Want from Me Munich
Sleepwalker Munich
For Your Entertainment Japanese TV show
For Your Entertainment Tokyo Live
Whataya Want From Me Finnish XFactor
Sleepwalker accoustic Singapore
Down The Rabbit Hole *partial (Live at Berns in Stockholm 31-03-2010)
Adam Lambert For Your Entertainment Sydney Mardi G

=========================================================================
Miscellaneous Tour stuff (random order)

Ray of Light Madonna
MW/WLL Warfield, San Francisco, CA 7/25/2010
Mad World / Whole Lotta Love - Nokia Theater, NY - June 22, 2010
Sure Fire Winners from Washington DC (28 June 2010)
Broken Open Osaka
20th Century Boy-Erie, PA
MW & WLL @ Warfield/SF 7/23/10
Mad World - Council Bluffs, IA
Soaked Mystic Lake, MN
Whole Lotta Love - June 18 at Royal Oak Michigan
Soaked Manila, Philippines
Sleepwalker Dallas TX
Aftermath - San Francisco 2
If I Had You - Live Seattle Showbox Sodo
Aftermath - DC
SOAKED Glam Nation Tour (Hammond/Chicago)
Soaked Erie
Mad World/20th Century Boy Providence
WLL and TCB Dallas
Whole Lotta Love - DC
SFW Seattle
20th Century Boy/Whole Lotta Love Atlanta
TCB Hard Rock Hollywood FL
Sleepwalker Houston
SFW Tokyo 2
Whole Lotta Love in Tokyo (Day 3)
WLL Seattle
Mad World & Whole Lotta Love encore - St. Louis
WLL Costa Mesa 072710
Mad World/20th Century Boy Providence
Sure Fire Winners Hampton Beach
20th Century Boy Clowes, IN
Soaked in Osaka, Japan

===============================================================================