My thoughts below are
not about the Videos(especially the picture part which I don't particularly care about - its all about the music)..My
comments below they are about SOFTWARE automatically/inadvertently changing aspects of the performance They are of the exact same performance and with the same person recording both.
Tusk was generous to share both and we are extremely lucky that he caught and shared them !
Tusk, I hope that because you did both you don’t feel that I am judging your work but outlining how I think the software altered one of your recordings more than the other.
I appreciate and emphasize his own judgement to put what I also regard as the truer rendition in the Prime Position with the other tucked away for reference by others who might prefer it (I think that is great…different people have different ears)
I believe that one recording makes the performance a Haley “Grand Slam” and the other more of an extra base hit. Yeah, maybe I have high standards for Haley.. or a hyper critical ear.. but like I said.. I think she is a grand slam artist.
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To try to show that I'm not being a crank but have some tangible method to my preference(madness?) I'll usetwo examples of Moanin’ on the idol red carpet 2013.
All of us fanatics have enjoyed the performance hundreds of times I’m sure so I’ll jump right into it.
Listen to the end of this first on this non hq sound recording(which I like better and I think is truer to the artistic attempts than the HQ one for reasons I point out:
http://youtu.be/oFaT0VDmPBU?t=2m8s
I start at 2:08 in the “lower quality” link and will start again further down in the “high Quality” (software influenced!) link farther down:
Haley’s incredible Hum at 2:22 is the first think that I want to point out. (tiny interpretations like that are elements that jumped out at me from the first time I heard it !)
Another: Notice how Haley uses her voice to sort of horns in and out(blare and soften?) at 2:38 . She has this knack of conveying more than just a simple rhythm or pitch but can make a sound actually Pulse like the distinct aspects of a heartbeat (and I think the sort of moved heart beat is part of the “heat”/passion of the “got me moanin”.. it is no accident .. that is for sure.
Simelar thing following 2:49 the Yeah Yeah, No NO is one of the parts that struck me as awesome and I wait for .
Another: at 2:57 the “spend” and particularly “pray” are “spa” –“end” “pra” “ay”with the “spa” and “pra” distinct in sound type than the landing/tail off note “end” and “ay” ….
Link below starts at the same place again to help see the times above:
http://youtu.be/oFaT0VDmPBU?t=2m8s
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Below is the HQ “Software corrected” one. Again This is not about Tusk but about the software:
http://youtu.be/q0bqCPTiI54?t=1m32s
The start times are not the same so the same points in the performance on"high quality" recording
The “hum” is far less noticeable at 1:47 :. I don’t think anyone would really notice it hear and it.
At 2:01 the textured nuance I so admired as a heart like pulse is reduced to a far more “pedestrian” “oh oh oh oh” more like any musician might do and I don't think you'd particulary remember or notice the "yeah yeah, no no's I appreciated as sign of being "all in" to the song... playful and more
At 2:28 the “spend”s and the pray (with less “spa” –“end” “pra” “ay”) loose significant elements of the “punch” that we can hear was a purposeful accent Haley chose to use … the words aren’t “thrown” out as heard in the HQ recording.. more just sung.
Hear is the second one again:
http://youtu.be/q0bqCPTiI54?t=1m32s
Again:
- Though those points might seem small, every note she sings can be effected in the same way in terms of harmonic resonance and play that are not as easy to point out
- I blame the software
- And perhaps more provocatively - Regardless of what one personally prefers if the sound doesn’t show the emphasis the musician went out of their way to imbue, it doesn’t do the musician artistic justice
I guess that is a strong statement. I’m sorry but as I am obsessed with Haley’s singing. Some motivation is certainly a jealous desire to hear her at her best. Some of it is a hope that the most picky musical ears able to listen to scratchy old recording to hear unique aspects of old singers might also hear all that Haley _chooses_ to put in: especially demanding movie director types that love blues/ jazz (Cohen Brothers, Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen ? ) that I’ve speculated as being a likely Launchpad for her.
I’m also pretty sure that the pesky software can be reined in! I don’t think that it is something permanent or unyielding, especially if “drafts” we saved of the originals. I bet that much of the broadness of the sound can be teased(even if in a small degree) into many recordings already around ( experimenting with the equalizer in conjunction taking a pass over that with toying with the stereo effect settings, and settings that emphasize dynamic/acute rather than smooth etc)
As a statement in my first link on “the loudness” wars mentioned.. the overall effect might be initially more quiet… but the listener has control of the volume setting on their playback device. The end playback device(our phones ipods etc) has far less ability to change what has been compressed.
Yes, as this isn’t going to get broken up with other posts in between it is kind of incredibly long. It might be easier for people(those few who choose perhaps) to read with a break between posts Miguel ?
As promised, I didn’t want to put a “discussion” about recording software into a celebration thread about a wonderful event.
