Brian's falsetto

[Nicole]

Sorry if this has been discussed, I'm just too lazy to search around for it.

The other day someone showed me some Frankie Valli and Jackie Wilson videos trying to claim that they hit a higher note than Brian did in this one song. They may have at some point, I'm not sure, but the point is that in the videos he showed me, they didn't get above Brian's note (this is the song I was showing him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQG10A-ymtg. Hey, it's a cute song, lol.).

Anyways, after (probably) realizing I was right, he retaliated with, "Did you know Brian sang at a lower note at half the tempo and then sped up the tape?" I didn't believe it, but he said he had a book (called Behind the Glass) where Brian talks about some of his recording techniques and says that this is what he used to do.

So is this guy interpreting it the wrong way, or did Brian really use that technique on himself sometimes? Because I know his falsetto is real, so I have no idea why he'd ever need to do something like that. It doesn't make any sense to me, and I'm not buying it. I'm guessing either a) Brian was just explaining the technique and this dude took that for, "I always use this technique" b) Brian used that technique on other artists or told them how to do it, or c) he's just not willing to admit defeat, which is incredibly lame.

Enlighten me, please. I'm sticking with "he's full of it" until anyone can prove me wrong, lol.

[Bicyclerider]

Stephen Desper has written on this board about using that technique with Brian.  But except for a couple of songs (like Caroline No) where the entire tape was sped up, I believe that from the beginning to Pet Sounds all the falsettos you hear are unenhanced, real time Brian. 

[hypehat]

He mentions doing that on some of the late 60's stuff, yeah. But i think most pre-cocaine Brian falsetto's are the real deal.... Including LHRW, which has to have the highest one, right?

[MBE]

He could still hit the falsetto without much problem in the early 70's. Things like Awake show that pretty clear.

[mikeyj]

I've always loved hearing Brian on the vocal session of "Dance, Dance, Dance". Chuck Britz asks him something like "let me hear just you Brian" and he then proceeds to sing "I gotta dance right on the spot". I find that pretty cool, cause it's obviously not double tracked or anything and it shows what a great voice he had. There's also the Til I Die vocal session or whatever with just Carl and Brian. That's always amazed me as well.

Anyway, in regards to Stephen Desper discussing that technique, does anyone remember what songs in particular he was referring to? I seem to remember him saying that the lead vocal on Be Here In The Mornin' was Brian sped up, but then it turned out it was actually Al singing that part!

[Aegir]

Brian's "On my way to Sunny Californ-i-ay" is sped up in California Saga.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I thought so.  That was about the time his voice started really changing, although his voice didn't become too raspy until 1975. I had a feeling that his vocal on CS was sped up, as his vocal cameo in "He Came Down" sounds like his 15 BO self without the rasp, obviously not sped up.

Any other  confirmed examples?

[Aegir]

She's Goin' Bald... but I guess that doesn't really count.

[The Heartical Don]

She's Goin' Bald... but I guess that doesn't really count.

 

I wonder - wasn't Brian's humour from '67 onwards a method to hide an enormous sadness inside?

[MBE]

I thought so.  That was about the time his voice started really changing, although his voice didn't become too raspy until 1975. I had a feeling that his vocal on CS was sped up, as his vocal cameo in "He Came Down" sounds like his 15 BO self without the rasp, obviously not sped up.

Any other  confirmed examples?

It doesn't sound sped up on the lines he added for the single or really at the begining either at least to me. I think he was trying to sound like Mike. Funky Pretty was sped up for sure though.

[runnersdialzero]

I think it was sped up for effect, though - not for lack of skill.

For instance, he's been sped up a lot on the end of "Funky Pretty". He was more than capable of singing that part, thus why I'm led to believe it was for effect.

This video sounds ridiculous, though. "I CAN SING IN HIGHER FALSETTO THAN BRIAN WILSON. I AM SUPERIOR TO HIM IN ALL WAYS AHAHAHA NEENER NEENER" etc.

[Amanda Hart]

I feel like I can hear that a lot of the songs are sped up, the whole song, not just the vocal parts, like obviously Caroline, No but also Dance, Dance, Dance a little and Hawaii.  What gives it away I think is the drum sound, a snare pretty much always has the same pitch so you can tell when something like that has been sped up a half step.

[MBE]

I think it was sped up for effect, though - not for lack of skill.

For instance, he's been sped up a lot on the end of "Funky Pretty". He was more than capable of singing that part, thus why I'm led to believe it was for effect.

Yeah I think he was going for an electronic type sound on that one. Pretty advanced for 1972 if you really listen to the production he did. His stuff by 1976 never sounded as rich or full.

[pixletwin]

Exactly what note was at the top of Brian's range?

[hypehat]

He definitely discusses the vocal ranges in some article from LLVS!, but i can't find it

But i have! Brian, in his own words, can 'take the second D in the treble clef'. Anyone musical care to elaborate?

[pixletwin]

The second D above middle C? He could higher than that. I believe in Surf's Up he hits the second F above middle C pretty easily ("Domino" line).

[Autotune]

his highest note on record I've heard is an ultra-high Bb in the -unedited- ending of "Forever". That's a fourth higher than his highest note on "Surf's Up". Lowest? He's sung a good low F a number of times and there must be a low E somewhere that I can't recall.

an aside... in later times, the highest he's sung is an E (at least on the album Orange Crate Art).

[Amy B.]

On Youtube, someone has posted clips from Queen songs where Freddie Mercury sings at the top and the bottom of his range, whether it's alone or as part of a harmony. The person has posted the notes Freddie is singing in each clip. Someone should do that for Brian-- or all the BBs, for that matter.

[Mr. Wilson]

one of the highest notes BW ever sang to my mind is the end falsetto on the tag of FFF..Pure nosebleed..!

[hypehat]

the lowest notes must be from Pet Sounds - he would have got Mike or Denny to do otherwise lower ones. I'm Waiting For The Day, maybe? That's in E.

Brian also isn't very traditionally musical, lets remember that.

[Sheriff John Stone]

He gets up pretty high on "We'll Run Away", too.

[Chris Brown]

The highest note I've heard Brian sing is an F#, at the end of "Fun Fun Fun" from the Lost Concert (his high tag part).  I'll have to listen to the end of "Forever" to hear that really high Bb that Dr. Lenny referred to, but it doesn't really surprise me.  As pixletwin said, he hit the high F in "Surf's Up" pretty easily, so I'm sure he could reach at least a few notes higher back then.  He certainly didn't need to speed up the records to get those high notes, at least not in the earlier days. 

[pixletwin]

If by FFF you mean Fun, Fun, Fun, I don't understand. I don't have a piano here, but as near as I can tell his high note on the tag is also an F (just as in Surf's Up).