I dont get it ( everybody else does, it seems )

Have you ever seen the early American Idol auditions?How many "singers" were just mind numbingly terrible,to a point where you're saying to yourself...."how can this person NOT know they suck".Then when the're told no by the judges,they are seen leaving the audition room,and there's 20-30 people waiting outside,and the're all mystified,as to why the "singer" didn't pass the audition?Mass hypnosis maybe?

I'm convinced the're more than just a few people out there,who just can't hear "out of tune",but if they can dance to it.....it's all good.

I never understood the "noise performance artist "thing.It seems to fly in the face of every musician and singer,who strives to play and sing the note as perfectly as possible.So the water logged sax player,and the Yoko Ono's of the planet,can take a flying leap as far as I'm concerned.Love may be blind,but my ears still function,and just because you look god,dosen't mean you can sound good.
 
keep it simple said:
Not exactly, I never started to listen to Bob Dylan because of his voice (sorry Duncan).
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Apology accepted.

I find this really bizarre too. Out of context, out-of-pitch singing is just bad and very, very noticeable. I've come across (and backed) a fair few singers (on guitar and drums) that have pitching problems and quite often have had to accompany them for a few lines on backing just so that the pitch goes back in.

A lot of the time, it's actually a confidence issue. I remember seeing a show at college (we had to go) where a singer with nerves had been given 'Take My Breath Away'. Now, terrible song though that is it's a very exposed vocal part and if you're prone to losing the pitch then that's just about the worst song to sing because it's very obvious.

In my experience, out-of-pitch singers come in two categories. Those that sing out-of-pitch because they can't or aren't listening to themselves (monitoring is a big thing here) and those that don't have enough confidence on stage and are concentrating so hard on singing that they're not actually listening to themselves. It's very rare that I come across somebody that genuinely can't tell the pitch; although there have been a few.

Very odd that nobody called on it. Very odd indeed.
 
I dunno.

Many hit records have been made with vocals that are a bit "off".

And then some vocalists are only capable of singing in ONE key, and only a few notes in that key. So they have that ONE song in the right key and range they they sound good on that gets them a following, but live, when the band attempts to play in more than one key or note out of that range, it sounds awful. I've seen that happen.
 
DrumEatDrum said:
I dunno.

Many hit records have been made with vocals that are a bit "off".

And then some vocalists are only capable of singing in ONE key, and only a few notes in that key. So they have that ONE song in the right key and range they they sound good on that gets them a following, but live, when the band attempts to play in more than one key or note out of that range, it sounds awful. I've seen that happen.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UWtcSvtiQw

On that note... (I'm so witty).
 
You'd be suprised how easy it is to get by with just the attitude sometimes. My band isn't fantastic, and I'm not even a good drummer. But I've seen TERRIBLE bands play, and just because they acted like hard asses, they got loads of praise.

It's a two sides coin, because you also have places where, no matter how nice you are, if you suck, you'll get told you suck...
 
keep it simple said:
I believe this singer is quite well known, apparently :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2JMYq6Tevw
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I love her. No really, I love her. I think her songs are fantastic and I have the hots for her in ways I can't even describe.

I totally get that she's a little rough live, but I also love the fact that she really does sing live (clams and all), instead of lip syncing!

EDIT - By the way, I'm not arguing any points. I just wanted to say how much I love Katy Perry. :)
 
Could it be that he wants to keep on the right side of her for reasons of "friendship" and therefore tolerates her bad singing? Wouldn't be the first time, would it?
 
...there are certain notes that need to be bang on pitch...
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I agree. For instance, the notes A, Bb, B, C, C#, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, and Ab should all be bang on. The others I care less about.
 
tamadrm said:
Have you ever seen the early American Idol auditions?How many "singers" were just mind numbingly terrible,to a point where you're saying to yourself...."how can this person NOT know they suck".
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I think we forget what it was like before we became "musicians". Non musicians hear things differently.

Remember how awesome you sounded when you first started playing? I sounded AMAZING back then. Now I am a far better drummer and I'm very, very ordinary. The price we pay for the loss of musical innocence is to suffer through music we may have otherwise enjoyed.


tamadrm said:
I never understood the "noise performance artist "thing.It seems to fly in the face of every musician and singer,who strives to play and sing the note as perfectly as possible.So the water logged sax player,and the Yoko Ono's of the planet,can take a flying leap as far as I'm concerned.
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There we differ. I find the noise thing interesting and Yoko's howling performance was very brave. I mean, to stand there making out you're serious while yowling away like a banshee in front of all those people ... I don't care how rich and famous she is, that takes guts!

Some people are irritated by it but I love it when people do crazy things ... it's entertaining, often funny, reassures me of how normal I am ...
 
GRUNTERSDAD said:
Did anyone ever stop listening to Bob Dyland because of his voice or lack thereof? Or Johnny Cash, or Doctor John.? Sometimes it just doesn't matter
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But they didn't sing off pitch. And they had style.

I'd say a part of it could be that people seem to be attractive to vocal gymnastics these days. And their ears can't really follow what's in pitch or not. But most likely it's just that it's a female.

But there's a lesson to be learned here. Whatever you do -- do it with conviction. If you can't dazzle 'em with talent, confuse 'em with bullshit.

And as always -- you can fool some of the people some of the time, but...
 
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Interesting comments. Just to clarify, it wasn't a stylistic thing like Dylan or some of the other examples posted here. Nor was it intended to be a musical statement in " dissonance".

It was closer to what Plangent said- - Lots of vocal runs with bum notes... An amatuer pretending to be a pro.

Having said that, I agree with Grea, that musicians or serious music lovers have slightly different ears than the rest of the crowd. What I found amazing was it didnt really bother anybody. ( unless everybody in the club was one of her friends.. ). I do wonder sometimes, even at live venues, how much of what goes on is just background stuff... muzak, drinks, food, laughter.. is anybody really listening? Only other musicians react to bum not violently, I guess.


...
 
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People probably went to the club to have a good time, in spite of the music.

Maybe if it was a concert or a showcase there would have been a few boos, but as background music, they might have been little more than a noisy prop.

I have had great times listening to crappy bands. I have also made my contribution to a few crappy musical situations where afterward, we were jollied and back slapped as though we were the second coming of the fab four.

When I was living up north I was invited to jam with a couple of friends who were excited that they had talked the girl who was the "second place finalist" for a local so you think you can sing competition into jamming with us. These guys were fawning all over her as though she were some kind of Joni Mitchell. Sadly, this girl could not carry a tune in a plastic sack, but from my vantage point, she looked like Shania Twain (bless you Lulu Lemon).

To me, the concert scene at the end of the Music Man stands out as a great lesson on musical appreciation.

Barry,
 
plangentmusic said:
But they didn't sing off pitch. And they had style.

I'd say a part of it could be that people seem to be attractive to vocal gymnastics these days. And their ears can't really follow what's in pitch or not. But most likely it's just that it's a female.

But there's a lesson to be learned here. Whatever you do -- do it with conviction. If you can't dazzle 'em with talent, confuse 'em with bullshit.

And as always -- you can fool some of the people some of the time, but...
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I will respectfully disagree. Bob Dylan was never on pitch. should have stuck to lyrics. And Doctor John had lifelong after throat surgery sounding gruffness. Johnny Cash spoke more lyrics than he sang. It will always be this way, and out side of the autotune studio we will never know.
 
Nelson, you raised a good point about Dylan having style - but I agree with GD that he sang an awful lot of flat notes.

plangentmusic said:
But there's a lesson to be learned here. Whatever you do -- do it with conviction.
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100% agree. Conviction is huge - Monk, Sun Ra and Moonie knew that.


I'm imagining the scene - she's up there and looking confident, wailing her heart out out. Everyone thinks "cool". But since she's out of tune the band doesn't hold their attention. So they go back to socialising.

Behind all the talk there's some vaguely appropriate sounds going on.

Then the song ends and the singer is caterwauling her big ending, arms flung wide, the band's having a little shred ... wha? huh? Oh yeah ... the song's ended. Yay! Yay! Clap clap. Back to conversation / pickup / drink negotiations ...

Most people don't give a sh1t about music and half the time they listen with their eyes. So it goes.
 
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