The First Gig: Anselmo Valencia Ampitheater Tucson, AZ 4/24/12 (SETLIST/REVIEWS)

[SMiLE Brian]

All that really matters is that the name "The Beach Boys" is on the ticket.  Everything else is gravy.  Having personal preferences regarding The Beach Boys' product is anti-Beach Boys.

What if they went up there and played "Fuck The World" by the Insane Clown Posse for two and a half hour straight? Would you complain? How anti-Beach Boys of you ;(

Juggalos would be up for BWR-ICP.

[Ron]

I'm surprised nobody's stated the obvious yet.  It was recorded on an I-Phone.  This site is full of people who hate huge corporations, and Apple is a HUGE corporation.

So obviously, the "man" has special software that manipulates everything recorded on your I-Phone, even down to adding a Vocoder on a lead singers voice... BUT ONLY ON 4 SONGS.  The reason nobody heard it at the venue is because Apple added it after it evesdropped on his recording.  

Obviously.  

[18thofMay]

Sail on sailor!

[ontor pertawst]

Still sounds like some kinda flangy phasey harmonizer purposeful effect to me on H&V. If you wanted to live Auto-Tune Brian, some geek with a keyboard would be playing the melody along with him and the pitch correction wouldn't be that noticeable and psychedelic unless you cranked up the setting specifically for that effect. If you wanted to slyly fix his pitch, it sure wouldn't sound like that. Considering he's blowing notes here and there anyway, it doesn't sound like anybody is correcting his pitch on other songs. It's a big pain in the ass and since we're all used to Brian's fine, occasionally frail character-drenched voiced, people would look at the bottom line cost of doing this and go -- nah, f*** it.

Watch your oo's and aahs. Brian, you're flatting.

[LetHimRun]

Going by the vimeo audio, it's bad on H&V and especially the new single. Brian's voice is wobbling and jumping everywhere on TWGMTR. I'd rather hear him sing flat or sharp than digitally wobble all over the place.

I really don't no what you are hearing. I can't hear it and the band say's no Autotune was used. I think Brian's vocal is being "ghosted" and they are in tune and when Brian wobbles that is what you hear.

Do you know how to sing? I mean really sing, like have been trained and have used it for years? I have. Something is not right. This "wobble" is not a natural wobble, it's a digital one. Now, whether there was something wrong with his setup, I will easily give you that. The line "from the dashboard of my car" is one of the ones that stood out. It completely drops in and out twice while he is singing "car." Set up problem? Mic? Could be, but in a setting with no problems, that is not the natural sound of someone wobbling on a note. Trust me.

That being said, Brian sounds great on pretty well all of the parts he sings prominently. I can hear a few places where the harmony with him and the high note are not correct because of the bad chord, but to me, it doesn't sound to be him. As someone noted on this thread or another, it seems to be Jeff who is a bit off in pitch in places (that person said he needed to be autotuned). A good example of that is the Grammy performance. Where Brian sings his line prominently with Jeff doubling him high, on the way down, Jeff misses the last note, but Brian doesn't and the result is a bad chord.

[rogerlancelot]

I already have the I-Phone recording that everyone is discussing but I would still love to get a PM from somebody. I get lonely sometimes, what can I say?

[endofposts]

Is it possible it's a type of doubling with added effects (either autotune or something else)?  It almost sounds very subtly like two Brians, and it's his own voice, it's not another person doubling him.  There are live vocal doubling effects out there.

[drbeachboy]

I'm surprised nobody's stated the obvious yet.  It was recorded on an I-Phone.  This site is full of people who hate huge corporations, and Apple is a HUGE corporation.

So obviously, the "man" has special software that manipulates everything recorded on your I-Phone, even down to adding a Vocoder on a lead singers voice... BUT ONLY ON 4 SONGS.  The reason nobody heard it at the venue is because Apple added it after it evesdropped on his recording.  

Obviously.  

In a venue the music is too loud to know what you are hearing. All the sound is manipulated through the soundboard.

[Jonathan Blum]

Uh huh. Things that degrade the quality of something I love just make me so happy, Dr.Beach Boy. IF THAT IS YOUR REAL NAME. imo.

All that really matters is that the name "The Beach Boys" is on the ticket.  Everything else is gravy.  Having personal preferences regarding The Beach Boys' product is anti-Beach Boys.

Stuff the help-help-I'm-being-oppressed whinging, folks.  This isn't about merely having personal preferences, it's about getting so out-of-perspective that complaints about small details overwhelm the big picture.

Perspective check, folks:  this is the band which put on the 1977 Australia tour.  Who did shows where Brian wasn't even playing the same *song* as everyone else, never mind just being a bit off-pitch.  (And in those days they corrected him electronically too -- by turning his mic off.)  By the standards of Beach Boys shows, these are minor niggles.

See also:  getting handed a completed "Smile", and wailing and gnashing over synthesyzed harpsichords.

More generally:  calling this "something I love"?  Nope.  This isn't love, it's fandom.  Which is about obsession rather than love.  If it was someone you *actually* loved up there, like your wife or kid?  You wouldn't be posting at length on a message board about how disgusting their autotuning was; instead you'd be polite and generous and sympathetic.  Love is kind.  Fandom is relentless.

You want to be obsessive?  That's your call.  But the rest of us are sharing this room too, and when things get this heated and grumpy it's a real bummer for other people.  This doesn't mean people aren't allowed to complain -- but there's a line between complaining, and continuing to complain, which is a whole other ball game.

Regards,
Jon Blum

[18thofMay]

Going by the vimeo audio, it's bad on H&V and especially the new single. Brian's voice is wobbling and jumping everywhere on TWGMTR. I'd rather hear him sing flat or sharp than digitally wobble all over the place.

I really don't no what you are hearing. I can't hear it and the band say's no Autotune was used. I think Brian's vocal is being "ghosted" and they are in tune and when Brian wobbles that is what you hear.

Do you know how to sing? I mean really sing, like have been trained and have used it for years? I have. Something is not right. This "wobble" is not a natural wobble, it's a digital one. Now, whether there was something wrong with his setup, I will easily give you that. The line "from the dashboard of my car" is one of the ones that stood out. It completely drops in and out twice while he is singing "car." Set up problem? Mic? Could be, but in a setting with no problems, that is not the natural sound of someone wobbling on a note. Trust me.

That being said, Brian sounds great on pretty well all of the parts he sings prominently. I can hear a few places where the harmony with him and the high note are not correct because of the bad chord, but to me, it doesn't sound to be him. As someone noted on this thread or another, it seems to be Jeff who is a bit off in pitch in places (that person said he needed to be autotuned).

Yes I can sing, but a digital sounding wobble can be created in concert, I have heard it from Brian and others before. His vocal is being ghosted in places, not on sail on sailor as much. I have heard Brian sound worse, either way IT IS NOT AUTO-TUNE. Robo-Brian as some are calling it can come from many effects natural and un-natural. So when he drops out a bit the ghost vocal becomes prominant, like a dodgy double track in the studio. The we could Ri-Ide the surf together part from Surfer Girl is the most telling part.

[runnersdialzero]

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/2/20/800088/robocop2.mp3

imo

[Wirestone]

Is it possible it's a type of doubling with added effects (either autotune or something else)?  It almost sounds very subtly like two Brians, and it's his own voice, it's not another person doubling him.  There are live vocal doubling effects out there.

Yes, this is what I've been wondering. That is, if there's a track of his unaltered vocals that's mixed with a tuned track or something of that nature.

[sheknowsmetoowell]

There IS some pitch correction going on during Heroes And Villains, not sure if it's auto-tune. When Brian sings "I've been in this town so long that back in the city" he sounds like Cher in her song "Do You Believe In Life After Love?" It digitally tries to lock into a pitch.

[seltaeb1012002]

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/2/20/800088/robocop2.mp3

imo

Haha, it's useless man. People wanna believe what they wanna believe. Speaking of "believe"... Do you believe in life after love?

Anyway, I hope they got it together for tonight. I swear I didn't listen to this concert hoping for something to complain about. I would've been completely happy with a typical slightly off-key Brian vocal. It's the idea that they might be trying to fake the funk that gets to me.

[Quzi]

I got my dog ears ready to hear this autotune that everyone is bitching about and holy moly, talk about being over-prepared! The autotune isn't some mild touching up or anything. Brian's vocals are drowning in it.

I have no qualms with Brian giving a rough, natural performance. He still sounds more than passable and it's not like I can't cut him a break for the deterioration of his voice (it adds a whole new emotional dimension to the performance to a degree). What I do have an issue with is someone has made the decision that this awful sounding autotune sounds better than natural Brian, which is absolutely not the case and I don't think it's doing much for Brian's esteem to have him hooked up to the vocal equivalent of life support when he doesn't need it.

Really hoping that this whole shenanigan is rectified by the time I receive the next show via Prime Minister!

[I. Spaceman]

There IS some pitch correction going on during Heroes And Villains, not sure if it's auto-tune. When Brian sings "I've been in this town so long that back in the city" he sounds like Cher in her song "Do You Believe In Life After Love?" It digitally tries to lock into a pitch.

Absolutely.

[runnersdialzero]

All said, let's just hope this isn't present on tonight's performance or any after. How it wasn't caught in rehearsals or mid-show, I have no idea, but let's just hope the mistake was picked up on and isn't like this tonight. Brian deserves better, that's all.

[Zargo]

A gal who was unfortunately not aware that perhaps "Wouldn't It Be Nice... My Own Story" was not the best possible choice for an autograph was quite disturbed when her copy was returned in exactly the same form as presented.     

LOL Now that is funny!

[18thofMay]

So the fact that member sof the band say there was no auto-tune holds no weight at all!!

[runnersdialzero]

So the fact that member sof the band say there was no auto-tune holds no weight at all!!

Since when were you in the band? Congrats! ^_^

[egon spengler]

I'm laughing my ass off about idiots here thinking they can hear auto-tune on a recording like this.  Meanwhile, EVERYBODY that was at the show says that it didn't sound like that.  EVERYBODY!          

if you can't hear the wobbly autotune on his delivery of the word "deep" in Sail on Sailor ("deep commotion.."), i don't know what to tell you. I bet the same people who can't hear the autotune wouldn't pass a tone deaf test.

[18thofMay]

I'm laughing my ass off about idiots here thinking they can hear auto-tune on a recording like this.  Meanwhile, EVERYBODY that was at the show says that it didn't sound like that.  EVERYBODY!          

if you can't hear the wobbly autotune on his delivery of the word "deep" in Sail on Sailor ("deep commotion.."), i don't know what to tell you. I bet the same people who can't hear the autotune wouldn't pass a tone deaf test.

Huh!! Even in Dr Dre headphones there is nothing wrong.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

The only wobble I hear is from guys singing and going a tiny bit off pitch combined with the natural boom and delay/echo that comes when recording in a big space from out in the audience.

And of course there is someone ghosting Brian. This is a guy who might simply stop singing at any moment in the middle of a song. It's not to make Brian sound perfect, it's to make him consistent, or to create the illusion of such.

[Zach95]

Um...excuse me? Could I perhaps also receive a Postcard in the Mail? Really feel out of the loop here...I let this thread get too big without checking it out the last few days, I was more interested in the album info.

[DonnyL]

I don't give a $h@! about auto-tune; "Don't Back Down" sounds so gooooooood !

(I hope they play it in Berkeley)

(PS- there is so much weird crap going on in this audio, there is NO WAY to know if any auto-tune was used -- doesn't sound like it to me).