Entertainment For Lively Minds
Miming and Madonna - the plot thickens
Posted by David Hepworth on 25 January 2010 - 9:26pm.
The Bob Lefsetz Letter has been looking at whether Madonna's performance at the Haiti Telethon was live or mimed and has attracted some fascinating feedback from the experts in the business of on-stage chicanery. Most fascinating was this contribution from one Foster Hagey who says:
The engineer is using the mic she has in her hand to trigger a gate on the pre-recorded track. This way the pre-recorded track only plays when she sings into the mic in her hand. Check 2:06 into the video. The line is, "Life is a mystery." but all we hear is "...is a mystery." You can hear the gate pop open when she gets the mic up to her mouth. It sounded 40% live 60% pre-recorded to me.
Thoughts?
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I think it's live
I am, of course, no expert, but these things are clear...
1. The singing has a live 'quality' about it
2. When she hits the side of the mic, you can hear a few knocks. Check this out at 2.28 onwards
3. She's slightly out at the end, and she sounds slightly out of breath, unlike at the beginning.
Should we
ask for our money back?
The gate theory sounds good.
The lip-synching ain't perfect. But it doesn't sound too metallic and Autotuney, which has to be a good thing.
Considering the
religious beliefs of some Haitians I thought it an odd choice of song but then what could she sing? "Holiday"? Not really. "La Isla Bonita"?
Nope. "Get Into The Groove"? Ok "Like A Prayer" it is then.
The "...is a mystery" bit
just looks like she missed her cue. She's not even trying to sing the start of the line, she's too busy dancing and enjoying/showing off to the choir. She then does a slight look round to the choir conductor after she's joined back in, as if to say "we're alright, keep going!".
Besides, the tuning is too hazy at the start for a prerecorded track - she's not out by much, but just enough to notice, and way more than would be acceptable on a recording by someone like Madonna. Sounds live to me.
Song choice?
On Gawker (a U.S. Web site, for those unfamiliar with it), a bunch of folks also questioned Madonna's choice of this song because, they said, "Like a Prayer" is a song about giving head. Lyrics: "When you call my name, it's like a little prayer, I'm down on my knees, I want to take you there. In the midnight hour I can feel your power, Just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there. ..."
Ahem.
But that's her act...
..isn't it? In her pomp she couldn't sing and dance energetically at the same time...and clearly nowadays she can't do a bit of handclapping with a gospel choir and sing at the same time.
It is very odd though. On this particular occasion perhaps a bit of sincerity and an honest live performance, even off-key and breathless would have been OK but clearly someone does not want you to see behind the curtain.
What interests me....
...is that there are an increasing number of options between live and miming.
Indeed
is it like singing with a safety net?
It sounds live to me
As Dr volume says above, if she was going to fiddle the outcome, it would have been a much neater final vocal. The bit at 2:02 where she misses the first line just sounds like a missed cue.
That bit at 2:06ish
I know f-all about mics and sound and miming possibilities, but that bit at 2:06 looks like someone backstage has muted her mic when she is swaying and dancing just before it and is slightly late un-muting it. Madonna certainly looks like she mouthing the words.
Like a vocal click track........?
Interesting
In this case
She is not miming. If there was a pre-recorded vocal track, the guitarist would have earbuds in so he could hear the click and play along with it. I'm pretty sure those aren't present.
The basis of many of the comments is that you can't hear her clapping against the mic. You quite clearly can!
I think we are hearing a gated mic with heavy compression to level out volume changes. If she hits a note too quiet it would just cut out - exactly like that.
Agree with David though, the potential for deception live is vast these days. Look at Coldplay live - masses of stuff comes straight off a laptop, and most of it is just basic keyboard parts. They could hire a keyboard player and loosen up a bit. When they play an older song like Spies, you can hear the music sigh in relief.
A well-known boy band toured recently with their backing musicians on stage. It was clear that the musos were actually doing most of the singing.
On the subject of compression..
When are the Podcasts going to use a bit? The difference between Mark Ellen's normal mumbles and his guffaws of laughter is enough to shatter windows, speaker-cones and my eardrums.
Well Said
Agree 100%!
Careful what you wish for
The (excellent) Phil Smee podcast would have had an even-louder microwave pinging away in the background! Whose pie was it?
Agreed
Wasn't there some discussion about this a while ago, and Fraser tried using some software called 'the levelator'? Is it still being used?
Laughter is extremely easy
Laughter is extremely easy to spot and snip out or at least cut down. In any editing software, the waveform looks like rabbit pellets.
We do use compression
But it's a compromise. As we're not recording in a multitrack environment, we can't apply a setting to Mark's voice that doesn't also affect everyone else's.
My tuppenceworth
I think she's live. Besides, any live engineer would have their finger on the fader and pull it down when the performer claps with the mike. A great mike botherer was John Otway. I remember one gig where he was headbutting a mike so many times, he flattened the mike and ended up with a lattice of bloody marks on his forehead. I notice he's bald now.
He did that at every gig - he used to keep a spare Shure 58
for when he played Headbutts
Also
Miming - this is pop. Is it any different to the Partridge family? I was disappointed when i realised Shirley Jones wasn't playing the keyboards. However on the plus side, there was Susan Dey.
One last thing - don't EVER get caught miming in Australia!
Always thought Madonna had a poor voice...
... but when I watched this (live on CNN) I thought "mmm she's singing that song sorta alright".
Now I find out it was "more or less" mimed. Shoulda guessed.