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Have we perfected ourselves right out of the music game?
I was intrigued with an article sent to me about the latest recording by Michael Buble, who is stepping away from “perfection” and going for the “groove” in an “old fashioned” way of recording.
Imagine the concept—musicians all playing on the floor in the same room and recording it LIVE! And he admits that the idea was not well received by the “experts,” and that it is risky, and may not be “commercially” successful!
There was something more important to Michael Buble—the music—real and moving.
“Despite the massive success of his first three albums, the Vancouver crooner had fallen out of love -- not with the music he was making, but with the way he was making it.”
Although he says he was very proud of his first three albums that sold 21 million copies, “there was something missing.”
“They sound really good; sonically, they're beautiful. They're all about perfection -- everything is recorded onto ProTools, and if something isn't perfect, you pull it out and fix it. There are no mistakes.”
And so, to “rekindle” an old flame, he listened to recording of Frank Sinatra, Elvis and the Beatles.
“And I would feel something -- I can't really explain it, but there was a great presence in some of those records. I kept wondering why they had this great presence and why I didn't always feel that when I was listening to myself, or to other records that are made today. And one of the first things I realized was that we live in a ProTools, American Idol generation. We've become used to listening to this absolutely perfect music, but the heart and the soul are gone. It's so antiseptic.
“At the same time, he admits, he was getting slightly tired of hearing an eternal refrain from fans and critics: That his live shows are more enjoyable than his studio albums. Putting the two ideas together led to his eureka moment. ‘I realized that maybe I could meet somewhere in the middle and capture the energy and the raw excitement that comes from doing it in a live setting.’”
The old fashioned way.
His fans were not the only ones saying live shows were better. Prolific music blogger, Bob Lefsetz, has said many times that he is blown away by live performances of artists whose recorded music he would not buy and listen to. He recently “discovered” Taylor Swift live at the Ryman and was moved to tears by the “real” music.
“Music done right is life itself,” Lefsetz said.
Have we ProTooled ourselves right out of music itself? If it no longer speaks to us, is it music? Or is it engineered sound…beautiful, yes, and listenable, and commercial.
Is it music?
Michael told his producer, David Foster:
“'I need to do this in a different way. It has to be far more organic. I don't want to record to a click track. I don't want to tape everything separately. I want to shove those microphones in the room and I want the band just to go in there and play. I don't care if the tempo speeds up or slows down. I just want it to feel great. I want those drums to be bleeding into the bass, and the bass bleeding into the strings, and them bleeding into my vocals. I want this to have some real edge.' "
He took a chance:
"I got my 18-piece big band, threw them in a room, chucked up the microphones, set up a little vocal booth, and we did Stardust with (a cappella septet) Naturally 7. My rhythm section was 10 feet away, and nobody wore (headphone) cans, and we played. We played the song three times and we ended up using the first take. It was so satisfying."
Who knew what the commercial success of “Crazy Love” would be?
We recently witnessed the “real” music of Taylor Hicks at WorkPlay and much has been written about it.
Could the “music” of WorkPlay have been produced on ProTools? Can you imagine Billy Earl McClelland in one room, Taylor in another, and Brian Less in another with the keyboards…making music like that?
What is music? Is it perfect sound? Or, are heart and soul essential ingredients for “music.”
How far can we go electronically and call something “real.” Call it “music.”
What is it? Really?
Engineered sounds, or a human experience?
Michael admits that he possibly erred:
“But I erred on the side of integrity. I tried to make a record that really moved me. And I hoped that if it moved me it would move other people.”
Music moving people—an old fashioned idea? Was that the magic of Sinatra, Elvis, the Beatles? Not the voices, nor perfect sounds.
Here is the uniqueness of Taylor Hicks and his music. Listen to recordings of “The Distance,” and “Early Works.” The music moves you. Taylor so lives his music that the recorded sounds capture the intensity of that human experience. Add the ProTools environment. The heart and soul—the real music—still comes through.
It just gets better on the live stage.
The live concert is the artist’s recorded music kicked up a big notch. Why artists tour. Why Taylor has said touring is where it’s at. Why Bob Lefsetz says give away the recorded music—live music is where it’s at. Recorded is the enticement to see it live?
OR, record it live?
Anyone for “Taylor Hicks—Live at the Fillmore!”
Sources: The Lefsetz Letter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
“Buble is Crazy” by Darryl Sterdan, http://www.thewhig.com/
Taking a chance paid off commercially too for Michael Buble. “Crazy Love” is Number 1 on the charts in Canada.
~Thanks to KarinP for sending me this article on Michael Buble. It started the wheels turning.
Thanks to Wonder for the photo above: "Taylor at WorkPlay"
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