[wallinbl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R12QV...eature=channel

Don't Stop Believing is pretty good as well. I have no clue who this guy is, but I'm guessing his YouTube channel is going to do just fine.

My question: how do you do six takes and keep the timing straight like that? If you get off a bit in the middle, can you somehow fix the time such that it matches back to the other tracks?

[Oisín]

Good voice. Needs different jeans. No idea how to do the multiple-self stuff.

[CharlesS]

He could have a conductor - hell, maybe he conducts the piece himself, videotapes it, and then has the tape playing on a videoscreen somewhere behind the camera when he's singing it.

disclaimer: i didn't really watch the video, so i'm just pulling guesses out of thin air.

[torsoboy]

Very cool. He has an excellent voice. And superb timing to be able to keep the exact same speed through all the different takes.

[KeyLimePi]

listened to the first ten seconds and clearly the quality of that performance did not come straight out of those stand mics, unmixed. Seems to me that , like all recording artists, he recorded each track separately (listening to each in headphones for reference) and them mixed them down. Then he just shoots the video and lip syncs to the playback. The digital age has given us all the tools the pros have, we just need to follow the same steps they've used for decades.

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

Good voice. Needs different jeans. No idea how to do the multiple-self stuff.

Seems like an obvious green/blue screen to me.

Record 6 different tracks and then sync the tracks.

Then put a static background track.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by KeyLimePi 

listened to the first ten seconds and clearly the quality of that performance did not come straight out of those stand mics, unmixed. Seems to me that , like all recording artists, he recorded each track separately (listening to each in headphones for reference) and them mixed them down. Then he just shoots the video and lip syncs to the playback. The digital age has given us all the tools the pros have, we just need to follow the same steps they've used for decades.

This. The microphones in the video is just for show.

[wallinbl]

Originally Posted by KeyLimePi 

listened to the first ten seconds and clearly the quality of that performance did not come straight out of those stand mics, unmixed. Seems to me that , like all recording artists, he recorded each track separately (listening to each in headphones for reference) and them mixed them down. Then he just shoots the video and lip syncs to the playback. The digital age has given us all the tools the pros have, we just need to follow the same steps they've used for decades.

So, he's just a gay Milli Vanilli?

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by wallinbl 

So, he's just a gay Milli Vanilli?

No, I think he does sing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UcJx...eature=channel

[mattyb]

I agree, he can sing. But he's just another kiddy-high-voice-Timberland-wannabe.

Elbow people. ELBOW.

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by mattyb 

I agree, he can sing. But he's just another kiddy-high-voice-Timberland-wannabe.

Elbow people. ELBOW.

Interesting video. Also interesting how people all commented about how awesome the classical music part is - people need to listen to classical music more. Don't get me wrong; a two-hour concert will easily put you to sleep...but there's a whole world of music out there that the Internet seems to be rarely exposed to.

Even if the kid is a wannabe Justin Timberlake, so what? If he loves to sing, he loves to sing. Nothing wrong with that...

Also: for your audio geeks - what's with the drummer being enclosed in a little booth with a roof?

[mattyb]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Even if the kid is a wannabe Justin Timberlake, so what? If he loves to sing, he loves to sing. Nothing wrong with that...

Yup so what. So what if I want to comment as well. So what if I DO find that there is something wrong with that. So what, if in a Mac forum calling itself the Lounge someone voices an opinion eh?

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Interesting video. Also interesting how people all commented about how awesome the classical music part is - people need to listen to classical music more. Don't get me wrong; a two-hour concert will easily put you to sleep...but there's a whole world of music out there that the Internet seems to be rarely exposed to.

Even if the kid is a wannabe Justin Timberlake, so what? If he loves to sing, he loves to sing. Nothing wrong with that...

Also: for your audio geeks - what's with the drummer being enclosed in a little booth with a roof?

The drums are mic'd so that the sound tech is in charge of the drums' sound and volume, not the drummer. Never trust a drummer with his own volume.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by mattyb 

I agree, he can sing. But he's just another kiddy-high-voice-Timberland-wannabe.

Elbow people. ELBOW.

Saw them in Hamburg last year.

Sensational concert.

Awesome musicians. Great band.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Don't get me wrong; a two-hour concert will easily put you to sleep...

Speak for yourself, please.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Also: for your audio geeks - what's with the drummer being enclosed in a little booth with a roof?

You'll note that the guitar amps are in their own little booth as well.

Reason is very simple:

Rock drum kits and guitar amps are HELLA LOUD.

A violin is not.

You want to record both at the same time, you need to separate them as much as possible (ideally in separate rooms), otherwise the drums are going to bleed all over the other mics and make anything more than desperate attempts at containing things completely impossible when mixing.

In the old days of the big recording studios and everything recorded straight to mono or two-track tape, the drummer would simply play softly, but there'd still be strategically-placed baffles all over the place, separating the performers.

But softly-played drums sound completely different from a flat-out SMASHED kit compressed to hell, which is the sound you're after for this kind of rock music.

As for the guitar amps - almost all guitar amps have a serious drawback: They don't sound good unless they're cranked way up.

See above.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Interesting video. Also interesting how people all commented about how awesome the classical music part is - people need to listen to classical music more. Don't get me wrong; a two-hour concert will easily put you to sleep...

Classical, romantic, modern, expressionist, baroque, renaissance, or just anything with a string section and no kit drums?

Or might the quality of the performance be of any importance at all?

Don't bother; it's just rhetorical questions.

[Doofy]

This dude's voice isn't that good. It's been AutoTuned to hell and back by the sounds of it.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Also: for your audio geeks - what's with the drummer being enclosed in a little booth with a roof?

Well, the story we tell in public is that the drums are too loud. But the actual fact of the matter is that everyone hates all drummers and the more separation between them and normal people at all times, the better.

[residentEvil]

the protected booth around drummers is because of:

Spinal Tap A to Zed : Peter "James" Bond

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

Well, the story we tell in public is that the drums are too loud. But the actual fact of the matter is that everyone hates all drummers and the more separation between them and normal people at all times, the better.

Case in point: Lars Ulrich.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

This dude's voice isn't that good. It's been AutoTuned to hell and back by the sounds of it.

Oh yeah - I was gonna mention that, but forgot.

Welcome back Doofy!

::waves::

[Doofy]

::waves back::

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Classical, romantic, modern, expressionist, baroque, renaissance, or just anything with a string section and no kit drums?

Or might the quality of the performance be of any importance at all?

Don't bother; it's just rhetorical questions.

Quality of performance is quite important. I can't stand most modern orchestral compositions; many of them just sound like cacophonous noise to me.

I do, however, think that when people are very little or not at all exposed to any classical/orchestral music, they tend to think that anything is "omg awesome", because they're just not used to hearing that genre of music. It takes a lot for me to get goosebumps or a rush in my chest from a classical piece. I've heard a lot of classical music since I was little (my mom is fanatical about it), and not all of it evokes emotion in me. I think part of that is because I've heard a lot of different things. Maybe not. Just a thought.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Quality of performance is quite important. I can't stand most modern orchestral compositions; many of them just sound like cacophonous noise to me.

I would recommend taking a 20th-century music history / appreciation class. You might get a better understanding of the music if you understand some of what's going on in the music, what techniques the composer is using and what he/she is conveying through the music.

I do, however, think that when people are very little or not at all exposed to any classical/orchestral music, they tend to think that anything is "omg awesome", because they're just not used to hearing that genre of music.

As Spheric said, which genre? There are a huge number of genres that tend to get lumped together into "classical music."

It takes a lot for me to get goosebumps or a rush in my chest from a classical piece.

I don't know about you, but here are a few that do it for me every time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPOb9...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR4qwCay5J8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b133NbXTaTY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0lfk2QgPhc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0lfk2QgPhc (warning: don't have your volume up too high when you start this one)

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Speak for yourself, please.

It's more the dark and overly warm room that does it for me, although too-quiet music can do it to me as well.

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

I would recommend taking a 20th-century music history / appreciation class. You might get a better understanding of the music if you understand some of what's going on in the music, what techniques the composer is using and what he/she is conveying through the music.

We had discussions about the meaning behind the modern pieces whenever we'd play one in high school band. Doesn't change the fact that I don't find them aurally appealing at all.

The same thing goes for modern art. I don't care what you were trying to convey; if your "art" is a white canvas with two blue stripes on one side, I see it as crap and visually boring.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

We had discussions about the meaning behind the modern pieces whenever we'd play one in high school band. Doesn't change the fact that I don't find them aurally appealing at all.

I'm sure they didn't cover the musical idioms being used, the theory, and the forms if it was in high school. Also, even the most beautiful music in the world tends not to be very aurally appealing if it's played by a high school band. If that's your benchmark, I really think you need to give 20-21st century music another look.

The other thing is that 20-21st century music is so diverse that it's hard to pigeonhole. I mean, you have Neo-Classicism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Serialism, Futurism, Minimalism, Aleatory music, Micropolyphony, Post-Modernism, and surely others I'm not thinking of off the top of my head, as well as individual composers who are sometimes hard to put into a particular box.

I'd recommend auditing a college course on 20th century music appreciation - you may find that there's something there for you, more than you think.

The same thing goes for modern art. I don't care what you were trying to convey; if your "art" is a white canvas with two blue stripes on one side, I see it as crap and visually boring.

The irony of this is that a lot of modern music tends to be a lot more complex than other types of music. Some of it makes the music most people listen to look like two blue stripes on a canvas. Some composers, in my opinion, took it too far and made their music so complicated that you basically had to get the score and do a full analysis of the piece before listening to it if you wanted to figure out anything at all about it. But there's a whole continuum there, with stuff like Philip Glass on the other end, and there are an awful lot of gems to be found if you look for them.

[Spheric Harlot]

CharlesS speaks much truth there, though of course, in the end, being able to appreciate something doesn't mean you have to enjoy *listening* to it.

Also, the presentation does make a huge difference. I know that what we played in High School Band has very little to do with a) what the pieces actually sound like when performed by professional musicians and b) a representative selection of "modern" music.

John Adams was a revelation, for example, when I had to backline the keyboard setup for a ballet performance by a professional orchestra that included some of his pieces, including "The Chairman Dances". And there's some stuff by Steve Reich that I absolutely love. Philip Glass, on the other hand, I can't stand much unless it's in the background, like on Koyaanisqatsi.

[CharlesS]

Yes, John Adams is definitely one of the better minimalist composers. George Crumb, Lowell Liebermann, Henryk Gorécki, and John Corigliano are a few other living composers whose music is, I think, very accessible. Some other composers that are no longer alive but who wrote some wonderful music in the 20th century were Olivier Messiaen (one of my links above was to one of his most famous works), Samuel Barber, Györgi Ligeti, Witold Lutosławski... and then of course if you go back to before 1945, you have all those composers like Scriabin, Ravel, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartók, etc. whose music is pretty much 19th century music with the coolness factor ratcheted up by a thousand.

Besides the presentation, another point that I forgot to make was that you were in high school at that time. At that age, you're pretty young, and your ability to appreciate things is not very well developed yet. I know that when I was that age, my musical tastes were extremely limited compared to what they became when I grew a bit older. You're in your twenties now, right? Give it another try. You may be surprised.

My recommendation: audit a course. You may not enjoy everything you hear (actually, it's almost impossible that anyone would like everything, since there are so many different styles in modern music), but chances are you'll find a few things you'll like that you wouldn't have discovered otherwise. There's an awful lot of modern music that isn't as inaccessible as you think it is, and who knows - perhaps you'll even find something to like in the "harder" stuff - Alban Berg, in particular, wrote some great stuff, although it's definitely not for the uninitiated.

[ajprice]

Nice job for what that video is, separate tracks and videos mixed into one. For me this is more impressive - YouTube - KT Tunstall "Black Horse & The Cherry Tree" on Jools . Loop pedals for guitar, vocals and tambourine, all done live and built up as the song goes on. This video is KT Tunstall's first time on British TV, there's a few other videos of similar performances on other shows.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by ajprice 

Nice job for what that video is, separate tracks and videos mixed into one. For me this is more impressive - YouTube - KT Tunstall "Black Horse & The Cherry Tree" on Jools . Loop pedals for guitar, vocals and tambourine, all done live and built up as the song goes on. This video is KT Tunstall's first time on British TV, there's a few other videos of similar performances on other shows.

Same idea, but better.

YouTube - Kyle Dunnigan - "Oh Yeah" bit

[Oneota]

Okay, so this is weird/cool:

1) I see this thread and like the video in the OP

2) I showed the video (and the Journey Glee cover also by him) to my wife

3) She showed to her mom, who really liked it

4) Her mom emailed the Bonny Hunt show

5) Bonny Hunt announced that Sam Tsui will be on the show tomorrow (9/24) after "a fan" (my mother-in-law) emailed her about it.

Good job, MacNN!

[- - e r i k - -]

The who show?

[Oneota]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

The who show?

Yeah, I've never seen it, either. But still, it's TV, and he wouldn't have been on it without this thread. So, I guess that's something.

[- - e r i k - -]

Pretty cool indeed

[hyteckit]

Yeah. I know who Bonny Hunt is. Just never seen her show.

[Nai no Kami]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

I'm sure they didn't cover the musical idioms being used, the theory, and the forms if it was in high school. Also, even the most beautiful music in the world tends not to be very aurally appealing if it's played by a high school band. If that's your benchmark, I really think you need to give 20-21st century music another look.

The other thing is that 20-21st century music is so diverse that it's hard to pigeonhole. I mean, you have Neo-Classicism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Serialism, Futurism, Minimalism, Aleatory music, Micropolyphony, Post-Modernism, and surely others I'm not thinking of off the top of my head, as well as individual composers who are sometimes hard to put into a particular box.

I'd recommend auditing a college course on 20th century music appreciation - you may find that there's something there for you, more than you think.


The irony of this is that a lot of modern music tends to be a lot more complex than other types of music. Some of it makes the music most people listen to look like two blue stripes on a canvas. Some composers, in my opinion, took it too far and made their music so complicated that you basically had to get the score and do a full analysis of the piece before listening to it if you wanted to figure out anything at all about it. But there's a whole continuum there, with stuff like Philip Glass on the other end, and there are an awful lot of gems to be found if you look for them.

It's a pity we are too far apart and that I have a newborn who demands a lot of attention, but we sould discuss (actually, agree) about this with a splendid Malbec and and Argentine asado. Under the shade of a tree, if possible. I couldn't agree more.

[wallinbl]

Originally Posted by Oneota 

Okay, so this is weird/cool:

1) I see this thread and like the video in the OP

2) I showed the video (and the Journey Glee cover also by him) to my wife

3) She showed to her mom, who really liked it

4) Her mom emailed the Bonny Hunt show

5) Bonny Hunt announced that Sam Tsui will be on the show tomorrow (9/24) after "a fan" (my mother-in-law) emailed her about it.

Good job, MacNN!

I hope I get part of the royalties for starting this thread.