Holly2003
To be fair to the topic starter, he chorus of Friends Will Be Friends at Wembley does sound like there's a backing track, but it might just be a chorus special effect on the vocals.
Thread
Posts in chronological order
Chief Mouse
[QUOTE]
[b]Holly2003 wrote: [/b] To be fair to the topic starter, he chorus of Friends Will Be Friends at Wembley does sound like there's a backing track, but it might just be a chorus special effect on the vocals.[/QUOTE]
It's an overdub, I think they tried to somehow blend the voices. See this and hear how it originally sounded - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh2mAFRhJsQ&list=PLC847154BA4D0D040&index=27
[b]Holly2003 wrote: [/b] To be fair to the topic starter, he chorus of Friends Will Be Friends at Wembley does sound like there's a backing track, but it might just be a chorus special effect on the vocals.[/QUOTE]
It's an overdub, I think they tried to somehow blend the voices. See this and hear how it originally sounded - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh2mAFRhJsQ&list=PLC847154BA4D0D040&index=27
Zamidoo
[QUOTE] [b]LilKing22 wrote:[/b]
I think the thing to remember is that although he had unbelievable tenor range, he was naturally a baritone. Certain things he did in the studio would blow out his voice if he attempted them live over the course of a 20 song set. That is one reason why Live Aid is so strong, because it was a brief set.[/QUOTE]
I agree, except that I don't think he was a natural baritone. I think that he was a natural tenor, and sang naturally quite operatically. But because of the amount of voice he was giving, he couldn't possibly sing at the top of his range for an entire concert, just like an operatic lyric tenor couldn't sing aria after aria with the spectacular high notes for two hours. Other singers would 'break it up', as would the sections of recitative, which would be lower and less taxing on the singer. Not being able to belt out his top notes for an entire, full length concert doesn't mean that he was a baritone. No tenor with a voice that size could do that.
I think the thing to remember is that although he had unbelievable tenor range, he was naturally a baritone. Certain things he did in the studio would blow out his voice if he attempted them live over the course of a 20 song set. That is one reason why Live Aid is so strong, because it was a brief set.[/QUOTE]
I agree, except that I don't think he was a natural baritone. I think that he was a natural tenor, and sang naturally quite operatically. But because of the amount of voice he was giving, he couldn't possibly sing at the top of his range for an entire concert, just like an operatic lyric tenor couldn't sing aria after aria with the spectacular high notes for two hours. Other singers would 'break it up', as would the sections of recitative, which would be lower and less taxing on the singer. Not being able to belt out his top notes for an entire, full length concert doesn't mean that he was a baritone. No tenor with a voice that size could do that.
Stellabella
For the OP; Here's Freddie @ Wembley in '86 Magic Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZodqyoJ48g&feature=kp
And at Montreux - I just found these Montreux recordings, there are other songs on Youtube and it's a relatively small audience. Freddie actually goes to the fans up front and high fives them
I can hear Roger and Brian signing along as well as perhaps the audience but I don't hear any overdubbing?
As for the difference between live and recording; Freddie always said in interviews that he wanted live performances to be special otherwise people should just stay home and listen to the record.
As for The 1985 Wembley tour in a David Wig6 1985 interview Freddie talks about worrying about his voice, that after Live Aid they were breaking records with ticket sales but he was afraid after his voice taking a beating night after night; that it wasn't like in the early days when he could get away with much more, he couldn't say "sorry I just did 3 shows and so my voice is torn up" or something to that effect. Not to mention that his doctor had advised against performing at Live Aid due to throat nodules and you hear his voice crack a couple of times at the end of two songs when using his upper register. But who cares that was an amazing performance!!
OP, just disregard the mean posts. We all have a lot of learning to do and you reached out with a question and I certainly have no problem giving input, it's free.
I hope your training is going well. I hated it as I have terrible stage fright, only did it cuz it was a requirement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZodqyoJ48g&feature=kp
And at Montreux - I just found these Montreux recordings, there are other songs on Youtube and it's a relatively small audience. Freddie actually goes to the fans up front and high fives them
I can hear Roger and Brian signing along as well as perhaps the audience but I don't hear any overdubbing?
As for the difference between live and recording; Freddie always said in interviews that he wanted live performances to be special otherwise people should just stay home and listen to the record.
As for The 1985 Wembley tour in a David Wig6 1985 interview Freddie talks about worrying about his voice, that after Live Aid they were breaking records with ticket sales but he was afraid after his voice taking a beating night after night; that it wasn't like in the early days when he could get away with much more, he couldn't say "sorry I just did 3 shows and so my voice is torn up" or something to that effect. Not to mention that his doctor had advised against performing at Live Aid due to throat nodules and you hear his voice crack a couple of times at the end of two songs when using his upper register. But who cares that was an amazing performance!!
OP, just disregard the mean posts. We all have a lot of learning to do and you reached out with a question and I certainly have no problem giving input, it's free.
I hope your training is going well. I hated it as I have terrible stage fright, only did it cuz it was a requirement.
Stellabella
Sorry for some reason the Montreux URL didn't post. I forget I'm on a Mac and cannot use control C to paste.
Here is it. Not a favorite song of mine by the way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWPJW-BFYMc
I like this version of One Vision, I think it's Roger Taylor's original lyric.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2zg0N5wrQk
Here is it. Not a favorite song of mine by the way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWPJW-BFYMc
I like this version of One Vision, I think it's Roger Taylor's original lyric.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2zg0N5wrQk
someonewholikesadam
Queen fans, how does it feel to have to defend your idol?
To the vocal student, what do you think about Adam Lambert live? queen fans think he sounds "horrible" in this video. I think he is amazing!
Holly2003
Oh ffs! :(
Zamidoo
[QUOTE] [b]someonewholikesadam wrote:[/b]
Queen fans, how does it feel to have to defend your idol?
To the vocal student, what do you think about Adam Lambert live? queen fans think he sounds "horrible" in this video. I think he is amazing! [/QUOTE]
I thought that the OP was about Freddie Mercury? Wouldn't it be better to put that up in an Adam Lambert forum, where you would get more feedback on him as a singer on his own merits? Personally, I'm happy to watch it, but it's a little bit 'off topic'...
Queen fans, how does it feel to have to defend your idol?
To the vocal student, what do you think about Adam Lambert live? queen fans think he sounds "horrible" in this video. I think he is amazing! [/QUOTE]
I thought that the OP was about Freddie Mercury? Wouldn't it be better to put that up in an Adam Lambert forum, where you would get more feedback on him as a singer on his own merits? Personally, I'm happy to watch it, but it's a little bit 'off topic'...
someonewholikesadam
[QUOTE] [b]Zamidoo wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]someonewholikesadam wrote:[/b]
Queen fans, how does it feel to have to defend your idol?
To the vocal student, what do you think about Adam Lambert live? queen fans think he sounds "horrible" in this video. I think he is amazing! [/QUOTE]
I thought that the OP was about Freddie Mercury? Wouldn't it be better to put that up in an Adam Lambert forum, where you would get more feedback on him as a singer on his own merits? Personally, I'm happy to watch it, but it's a little bit 'off topic'...[/QUOTE]
You are right. I got lonely in the Adam Lambert subforum. The fans in that subforum are crazy! I'll try to refrain from posting Adam-related things on other forums.
And what does ffs mean?
[QUOTE] [b]someonewholikesadam wrote:[/b]
Queen fans, how does it feel to have to defend your idol?
To the vocal student, what do you think about Adam Lambert live? queen fans think he sounds "horrible" in this video. I think he is amazing! [/QUOTE]
I thought that the OP was about Freddie Mercury? Wouldn't it be better to put that up in an Adam Lambert forum, where you would get more feedback on him as a singer on his own merits? Personally, I'm happy to watch it, but it's a little bit 'off topic'...[/QUOTE]
You are right. I got lonely in the Adam Lambert subforum. The fans in that subforum are crazy! I'll try to refrain from posting Adam-related things on other forums.
And what does ffs mean?
matt z
FOR FUCKS SAKES, GOOGLE IT!!!^^^
attaboy_jhb
[QUOTE] [b]ANAGRAMER wrote:[/b]
Attaboy, as a vocal student, can you let us know what key Bohemian Rhapsody is in?[/QUOTE]
Bb major but it does modulate to Eb for the chorus
Attaboy, as a vocal student, can you let us know what key Bohemian Rhapsody is in?[/QUOTE]
Bb major but it does modulate to Eb for the chorus
attaboy_jhb
Bb major but it does modulate to Eb for the chorus where he sings Mama on the G
attaboy_jhb
[QUOTE]Excuse me, but what the hell makes you just automatically denounce the studio work? Yes there are tools these days, but there weren't in the 70's or 80's - there were harmonizers and vocoding effects, but nothing like auto-tune was available.
As for the Wembley concert; Freddie was sick during that, if you want a short glimpse of his true power, listen to the Live Aid concert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE_9_Ejybhc [/QUOTE]
not "his" work just everyones in general. As a rule I ONLY measure singers ability by their live performances. Thats just the way i feel about it...sorry if you don't like that.
I did like the live aid gig though as everyone mentioned here and he does sound great there... totally different. so you can all calm down now
As for the Wembley concert; Freddie was sick during that, if you want a short glimpse of his true power, listen to the Live Aid concert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE_9_Ejybhc [/QUOTE]
not "his" work just everyones in general. As a rule I ONLY measure singers ability by their live performances. Thats just the way i feel about it...sorry if you don't like that.
I did like the live aid gig though as everyone mentioned here and he does sound great there... totally different. so you can all calm down now
attaboy_jhb
[QUOTE] [b]Zamidoo wrote:[/b]
To the OP - I know what you mean about some of the songs at Wembley, and you're probably right - if Freddie Mercury were judged as a singer based on Wembley alone, I doubt he'd make the 'greatest ever' list based only on vocal production (although probably would still make it, albeit possibly further down, on delivery and stage presence alone!), but as others have pointed out, that performance was during a long, exhausting tour. As other have also pointed out, he had problems with vocal nodules that were particularly bad at Wembley for whatever reason.
If you listen to many, many other live recordings you'll find a very different story. You also have to remember that a lot of the most well-known Queen hits that Freddie penned himself (as opposed to those written by the other members of Queen, e.g.. 'Radio Gaga' or 'We will rock you' to name two, for example) had fiendishly difficult vocal lines which were very difficult to reproduce live. The fact that he managed to sing some of those songs live at all, during a long tour, is a testament in itself to his singing ability.
I agree with what others have said about checking out live performances from around 1980-81 if you want to hear him at his peak. Remember, he was also around 40 years old in the Wembley shows and had been singing with Queen for over 15 years - that's a lot of rock singing. Even at Wembley, though, it was only the top of his voice that was a bit under-par. The middle and lower registers were fine.
Re. people 'getting their pants (or knickers or whatever) in a knot', well, you're going to get that on a site full of Queen fans! I don't think that your post is wrong exactly, but you should really check out more live recordings to get a better idea of the whole picture... re. the lip-synching, though, that is just an erroneous assumption. Freddie really didn't lip-synch. As an example, there is a recording which Freddie sang live on television in the early 1980s despite having lost his voice the night before after a lot of shouting. They could have mimed, but chose not to. And his singing is pretty awful (although not the overall performance)! If there were just some backing tracks at Wembley, that isn't really the same thing.[/QUOTE]
Yes I know and I did listen to the live aid gig like everyone said and it beats the Wembley gig by a long shot so thanks for that. I will still keep listening to more live shows.
To the OP - I know what you mean about some of the songs at Wembley, and you're probably right - if Freddie Mercury were judged as a singer based on Wembley alone, I doubt he'd make the 'greatest ever' list based only on vocal production (although probably would still make it, albeit possibly further down, on delivery and stage presence alone!), but as others have pointed out, that performance was during a long, exhausting tour. As other have also pointed out, he had problems with vocal nodules that were particularly bad at Wembley for whatever reason.
If you listen to many, many other live recordings you'll find a very different story. You also have to remember that a lot of the most well-known Queen hits that Freddie penned himself (as opposed to those written by the other members of Queen, e.g.. 'Radio Gaga' or 'We will rock you' to name two, for example) had fiendishly difficult vocal lines which were very difficult to reproduce live. The fact that he managed to sing some of those songs live at all, during a long tour, is a testament in itself to his singing ability.
I agree with what others have said about checking out live performances from around 1980-81 if you want to hear him at his peak. Remember, he was also around 40 years old in the Wembley shows and had been singing with Queen for over 15 years - that's a lot of rock singing. Even at Wembley, though, it was only the top of his voice that was a bit under-par. The middle and lower registers were fine.
Re. people 'getting their pants (or knickers or whatever) in a knot', well, you're going to get that on a site full of Queen fans! I don't think that your post is wrong exactly, but you should really check out more live recordings to get a better idea of the whole picture... re. the lip-synching, though, that is just an erroneous assumption. Freddie really didn't lip-synch. As an example, there is a recording which Freddie sang live on television in the early 1980s despite having lost his voice the night before after a lot of shouting. They could have mimed, but chose not to. And his singing is pretty awful (although not the overall performance)! If there were just some backing tracks at Wembley, that isn't really the same thing.[/QUOTE]
Yes I know and I did listen to the live aid gig like everyone said and it beats the Wembley gig by a long shot so thanks for that. I will still keep listening to more live shows.
Zamidoo
[QUOTE] [b]Nitroboy wrote:[/b]
Wembley wasn't at the end of the tour, it was right in the middle of it.
The reason why Freddie sounds [i]odd[/i] at Wembley is because he was ill, nothing else, a week later he sounds [b]beastly[/b] in Vienna:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bglu4mAhvOQ
[/i][/QUOTE]
Yes, I see what you mean. That explains the Wembley concert in question as well, then. Singing with vocal nodules and a bad cold isn't pretty... I still think that the nodules were the main problem, though, exacerbated by the cold. That 'crackling' and hoarse sound, and voice breaks on certain notes, are all classic symptoms of vocal nodules. That must have been so painful to sing on...
Wembley wasn't at the end of the tour, it was right in the middle of it.
The reason why Freddie sounds [i]odd[/i] at Wembley is because he was ill, nothing else, a week later he sounds [b]beastly[/b] in Vienna:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bglu4mAhvOQ
[/i][/QUOTE]
Yes, I see what you mean. That explains the Wembley concert in question as well, then. Singing with vocal nodules and a bad cold isn't pretty... I still think that the nodules were the main problem, though, exacerbated by the cold. That 'crackling' and hoarse sound, and voice breaks on certain notes, are all classic symptoms of vocal nodules. That must have been so painful to sing on...