Techniques of singing

[Swammerdami]

I know almost nothing about singing, so ask for comments on two things I've noticed while listening.

(1) Singers often minimize the final S sound in a verse. Why?

Bob Dylan often doesn't just minimize the S -- he omits it completely. Compare the "official audio" of this song as sung, with the "official lyrics" [shown in brackets]:

You must leave now, take what you need, you think will la [last]
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fa [fast]
...
The highway is for gamblers, better use your sen [sense]
Take what you have gathered from coinciden [coincidence]

(2) Singers often change the singing for a live performance compared with the singing on the original top hit. I assume they want a rendition that sounds OK and that they can produce reliably, while it may have needed several takes (or careful editing?) to get the studio version OK.

I'll look for examples if I need to but often a long sustained note in the studio version becomes a gliding series -- (what's the proper term here?) -- when live.

 

[ZiprHead]

(2) Singers often change the singing for a live performance compared with the singing on the original top hit. I assume they want a rendition that sounds OK and that they can produce reliably, while it may have needed several takes (or careful editing?) to get the studio version OK.

Eddie Vedder is one of the few singers that sound almost the same live as from stuio recordings.

 

[Ruth Harris]

I know almost nothing about singing, so ask for comments on two things I've noticed while listening.

(1) Singers often minimize the final S sound in a verse. Why?

Bob Dylan often doesn't just minimize the S -- he omits it completely.

Well, what you mention about Dylan is just his preferred singing style – but singers are trained to always minimize the “s” sound to smooth out the sound no matter where that sound lies in the lyrics. This sound is referred to as “sibilance” and it makes the music seem harsh. It is particularly important in music which is intended to be soothing or tranquil.

(2) Singers often change the singing for a live performance compared with the singing on the original top hit. I assume they want a rendition that sounds OK and that they can produce reliably, while it may have needed several takes (or careful editing?) to get the studio version OK.

I'll look for examples if I need to but often a long sustained note in the studio version becomes a gliding series -- (what's the proper term here?) -- when live.

Yes, you are mostly correct here. Studio recordings are a whole other world than live performances; you have virtually unlimited attempts to get the exact performance you want in a recording, but live is one chance only. Better that you give a decent performance regularly than only making things happen occasionally.

But live performances also contain a good deal of improvisation. Singing artists get tired of doing the same thing over and over again, and tweak their performance to keep up their own interest as well as the audience’s interest.

That long note that changes into a gliding series? That is called a slide and is very common in live performances. Sometimes it is done for improv purposes, and sometimes it is done to make singing easier on the performer.

Ruth

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Jon Anderson (Yes) could manage very well. Morton Hackett (aHa) also can hit the notes as well. Hackett is a notably better overall singer than Anderson, having a much wider octave range. Steven Tyler was remarkable for his rock voice on the stage, though I don't have much experience with the live material past the 70s.

Odd seeing 70s single artist Peter Gabriel not even trying to hit notes with the Genesis material.

 

[Politesse]

I know almost nothing about singing, so ask for comments on two things I've noticed while listening.

(1) Singers often minimize the final S sound in a verse. Why?

Because hissing -"sibilance" - is... unattractive. A problem for the solo singer and a straight up disaster for a choir. Record yourself singing a few songs both ways and play the recording back to yourself; you'll hear what I mean. There are always exceptions, though. "Thisss kiss, thiss kisss /unmissable..."

(2) Singers often change the singing for a live performance compared with the singing on the original top hit. I assume they want a rendition that sounds OK and that they can produce reliably, while it may have needed several takes (or careful editing?) to get the studio version OK.

I think there are a lot of reasons why this is true. Studio recording is a fundamentally different experience than singing on stage. There's different people involved. There's no audience to respond to. You aren't drunk. You're doing recording after recording of the same bar and you may not have the final say over what makes it on to the record. Your voice is just one "track" in a whole creation that's going to be more mixed, and what sounds good in that context might be different. You're exhausted, studio recording places enormous strain on a vocalist. Lyrics may need to be changed to allow for radio broadcast. Timing may need to be changed for radio broadcast. You've been invested in, and some of your investors are in the recording booth, they want certain things from you and can afford to ask for them. That which is audible in person might not be audible, or is way too audible, on a recording. Autotune is a thing. Live performances are a chance to play around with the material, and audiences like hearing a unique version anyway, so why not? In a way, a funny riff or two is proof that you're not being Milli Vannilli'd. A performance is bound to have changed anyhow, over the fifteen years since you made that recording. You and your bandmates have done new things with it. Some of them are different. Your voice has changed.

And so on. The difference between recording an album and performing a show is a lot like the difference between shooting a movie and staging a play. Indeed, watch a broadway musical in both formats, as a movie and on stage, and you'll notice a thousand changes to the music. Sometimes disastrously, but inevitably.