Do Concerts Have Pre-Recorded Vocals mostly?

[Hisgirl]

We attended a Pat Benatar concert recently and a friend who was sitting close to the front told me it was obvious she wasn't actually singing, but had pre-recorded vocal tracks.
How common is this? How can you tell for sure?

 

[AaronB]

It would be more common to be singing live than be lip syncing. The biggest exception I can think of would be if there is significant dance choreography the singer may be doing, and if it is strenuous enough they may be breathing heavily and not be able to perform vocals at the same time. It all depends what type of shape an act like that would be in. This would be fairly obvious if you see the person looks extremely out of breath, but you hear no signs of heavy breathing through the mic.

Now there are things that can be pre-recorded, like vocal doubling tracks and backing type vocals which are done for studio recordings and just not possible live. Using those would depend on if the artist wants to perform the song close to the how studio recording sounds, or they may forgo that and perform a different arrangement live.

People tend to think famous singers or popular acts cannot sing or are auto-tuned to sound good, but that usually seems to be someone's way of shunning music they don't like. Unless you are talking about something like Milli Vanilli, successful singers are good singers and rarely would they not be seeing live at a concert.

 

[starvenger]

Vocal tracks as an addition to the live tracks are becoming more common nowadays. Part of it is because a lot of the effects are preprogrammed and don't allow for a lot of ad libbing from the artist.

But you definitely see it a lot with artists that involve a lot of choreo in their sets (like K-Pop groups or Britney Spears). If you listen, you can often hear the live vocal along with the backing track at the same time, which creates some unintentional harmony.

People tend to think famous singers or popular acts cannot sing or are auto-tuned to sound good, but that usually seems to be someone's way of shunning music they don't like. Unless you are talking about something like Milli Vanilli, successful singers are good singers and rarely would they not be seeing live at a concert.

I think you're right. And it's worth pointing out that pretty much every album that gets put out will have some level of sound sweetening. It might not be some obvious use of auto-tune, but it's there.

At the end of the day, use or non use of the vocal track doesn't really bother me that much. It's more a case of whether an artist can actually sing or not that would bother me.

 

[_19disnA]

I think whether or not they sing 'live' depends on the venues and various other factors. For most concerts, there is adequate time to setup the sound system/mixing boards/mics in order to get things coordinated and sounding good. If someone is truly not able to sign on key, no amount of studio mixing is going to be able to fix that. If you watch various live singing performances during something like an award show, you often notice the performer removing that ear piece since something has gone wrong with the sound track being sent to them. Setup time between acts is very limited and even if they did a rehearsal, things might still not go as planned.

Some people who sing the National Anthem at a major sporting event might be using a recording since there are too many things that can go wrong with the sound. With all of the other background noises, those type of open air venues also don't have the best accoustics with limited time to setup prior to the performance.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Awww Milli Vanilli, if only this was your time, wouldn't even be a thing. Poor guys caught so much hate it was unbelievable and literally no-one cared, first pretend scandal I can remember. They both died destitute which was horrible.

In general, I can tell lip syncing when they don't match up, like maybe just learn the version being used and stick with that so it looks right on my high def TV because we see everything. Can get away with it at the Super bowl because you are not the main event but if people are paying hundreds for tickets to see a particular artist they are playing with fire, just don't.

 

[TippyThomas]

Awww Milli Vanilli, if only this was your time, wouldn't even be a thing. Poor guys caught so much hate it was unbelievable and literally no-one cared, first pretend scandal I can remember. They both died destitute which was horrible.

In general, I can tell lip syncing when they don't match up, like maybe just learn the version being used and stick with that so it looks right on my high def TV because we see everything. Can get away with it at the Super bowl because you are not the main event but if people are paying hundreds for tickets to see a particular artist they are playing with fire, just don't.

Only one of them is dead according to the internet.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Only one of them is dead according to the internet.

You are right, Fabrice Maxime Sylvain Morvan is still around.

The industry did them dirty, used their good looks to sell albums through MTV then attacked them for it, remember it being savage.

 

[Micca]

I was just listening to a podcast where they were discussing the feud between Motley Crue and their lead guitarist mick Mars. Mick claimed that he was the only band member playing live. They talked about a video where you could clearly hear the drums kicking off a song before tommy lee began playing.
Oops! They also commented that Lead singer Vince Neil hasn’t been able to sing for quite some time. I do t have strong opinions about any of this, but at todays ticket prices??? Not a feel good thing. Or a Dr Feelgood thing

 

[tvguy]

With everything digital now it can be harder to tell. Digital audio has a lag that analog didn't. So you can be watching a live performance and the audio may be a few milliseconds behind, making it appear to be lip syncing.

 

[_19disnA]

I think someone lip syncing to a song recorded by another artist is a different issue from an artist performing to a previously recorded version of their own song.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Awww Milli Vanilli, if only this was your time, wouldn't even be a thing.

Yes and no. While it’s fairly commonplace today for an artist to sing over or lip sync to pre-recorded vocals at a live performance, presumably it is in fact their own vocals.

I think someone lip syncing to a song recorded by another artist is a different issue from an artist performing to a previously recorded version of their own song.

Exactly. The Milli Vanilli guys never actually sang. Apparently both had heavy accents (one German, one French) and had trouble with English pronunciations, as it was not their native language. Their first hit single, Girl I Know It’s True, had already been recorded in the studio by American session musicians, including three male lead vocalists and several background singers, before they were even involved. The record producer then hired Fab and Rob to be the faces of Milli Vanilli. They were essentially actors/imposters who appeared in photos, on album covers etc and performed at concerts, yet the voices you heard were not theirs, either live or recorded.

 

[disneychrista]

You are right, Fabrice Maxime Sylvain Morvan is still around.

The industry did them dirty, used their good looks to sell albums through MTV then attacked them for it, remember it being savage.

It is not so much that the industry did them dirty as the producer did. They were lied to and took the fall for doing something they were hired to do. For the record, I still listen to Milli Vanilli songs. I don't care who actually sung them.

 

[LuvOrlando]

It is not so much that the industry did them dirty as the producer did. They were lied to and took the fall for doing something they were hired to do. For the record, I still listen to Milli Vanilli songs. I don't care who actually sung them.

The producer is of the industry, I don't understand what you are trying to explain?

 

[disneychrista]

The producer is of the industry, I don't understand what you are trying to explain?

That it wasn't the industry as a whole but an individual. That's all. I agree they got a raw deal.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I really don't have any problem with lip synching or even using ghost singers like Millie Vanilli so long as it is disclosed and credited. Then I can make an educated choice of whether or not I want to go to a concert.

 

[China Expat]

Defintely not my experience with Coldplay, Queen, Billy Joel, Stevie Nicks and Elton John over the last year! All live.

 

[Scotgirl]

I was just listening to a podcast where they were discussing the feud between Motley Crue and their lead guitarist mick Mars. Mick claimed that he was the only band member playing live. They talked about a video where you could clearly hear the drums kicking off a song before tommy lee began playing.
Oops! They also commented that Lead singer Vince Neil hasn’t been able to sing for quite some time. I do t have strong opinions about any of this, but at todays ticket prices??? Not a feel good thing. Or a Dr Feelgood thing

To be fair - if you've heard Vince sing live you would be glad of some lip synching! I've never seen anyone that hasn't sung live. Just went to see Pokey Lafarge last night and he was absolutely phenomenal! What a voice and all the band were superb musicians.

 

[goofy4prez]

There's a whole lot of lip-syncing these days because I personally believe so many of these performers outside of the studio are just not that good. Nowadays just dress like a pole dancer or Chippendale, drop a bunch of F-bombs and profanities, be as risque' as possible, and run around a stage and perform seems to work. And for the sake of not sounding too old ( I am), there are some extremely talented singers out there who just sound terrific in or out of a studio as well and don't need to try and be a modern-day Madonna, who unfortunately was a trendsetter.

 

[Disneylover99]

We’ve been to a lot of concerts over the years and I’ve never noticed any lip synching, but it could be me just not noticing. I do tend to doze off a bit. Lol.

We saw Motley Crüe a few years back. It was so loud and distorted, I couldn’t tell what they were playing or saying. That was a bad one.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We’ve been to a lot of concerts over the years and I’ve never noticed any lip synching, but it could be me just not noticing. I do tend to doze off a bit. Lol.

We saw Motley Crüe a few years back. It was so loud and distorted, I couldn’t tell what they were playing or saying. That was a bad one.

Not being able to understand what Motley Crue is saying is a blessing.