The Smiley Smile Message Board

After hearing the great Do It Again reunion snippet, I decided to throw it into my audio editor.
In an effort to milk the most out of the snippet, I adjusted the volume at the beginning and end so that the fades are barely noticeable (well..very quick now.)
Also enhanced the bass a bit and took out the 18 seconds silence in the beginning.

http://icreateification.blogspot.com/

Download link underneath the video.

 ;D

The same version on youtube? Just added link to the reunion thread if it is. Nice!

Sounds very nice!

Just noticed Brian harmonizing with himself on the bridge, good stuff.

Yes sir. Thanks!


Yeah, definitely a few Brians in the bridge.
Also hearing what might be a Foskett doubling Brian's lead (panned center) as well as the high part
And a possible Al harmony. Kinda hard to tell since it's all been autotuned to death.

Definitely Al harmonizing on the bridge too.

I'm with you on that. That last "ahh" that extends is definitely Al.

Anyone notice the "Dit-dit-dit" harmonies sound like they could be from the 15 Big Ones / Love You Era?  :woot

I still think it sounds like a bad cover but that's because I'm such a fan of the original..

On a positive note, the boys sound great, can't wait to hear some new songs  ;D

Yes.  This.  lol.

Notice Brian's voice is imperfect, and has character.  This version already destroys anything his live band pulls off, sorry! 

Yeah man! It's a great sound.  I'm lovin' it, and also this remastered version, thanks to the original poster for that.

Couple other thoughts, questions... did Murry help produce this, I notice Mike is really selling those enunciations. 

Second, am I the only one who REALLY wants to hear if Mike killed the bass part the song's about to go into?  Wonder if he's still got that?

No problem. It's amazing what a little extra bass and compression can do.

I really hope the official version has a nice amount of bass.

It's bad when the bass from some of The Beach Boys' early recordings is killing this 2011 recording.

This is the Beach Boys damnit, they deserve the best sonically!  :smokin

I hope the final version is brickwalled.

Although it's autotuned, it still sound fantastic! Just think of the 'Good Timin: Live At Knebworth' DVD, that's much worse and DIA is way better than some autotuned songs by some new 'singer' from the last years...

Me too, all the autotuning they slathered on still isn't ruining it for me! They need some turntables, also.

What this needs to really push it up to the high standards of Pet Sounds, Friends, or Sunflower, is Nicky Minaj.

Um, am the I the only person skeptical of what many here have called auto tune?  Guys, this isn't really true auto tune.  It's MINOR pitch correction and a lot of other effects that's making their voices sound that way.  What you're mistaking for auto tune is a lot of other little tricks producers use to make their subjects sound better.  This is the Beach Boys, not Maroon 5 or T Pain.  They're not using THAT much pitch correction, if at all.

Zach, ignore them.  They've got autotuneitis.  They accuse the girl at McDonalds of autotuning her voice on the drive through speaker.

It's a pet peeve of mine.  People learn about something, then they see it everywhere.  So all of these guys, several years back, learned about Autotune.  Now they think they're "in the know" if they hate on it and accuse every band from the beach boys to britney spears of being the same monotonous wash of a pro-tools plugin they downloaded for free off of BTJunkie.com .

Like what ?  :)

Ok man...

That voice does not sound like Mike to me. The only voice I can ID in there is BW's.

Back in the 60's they used double-tracking, reverb & other tricks to mask weak vocals. The technology has changed but the intent hasn't. Sometimes things need to be sweetened to achieve a desired effect. A lot of people think that's a bad thing, that it's dishonest or it's cheating, but it's all just tools of the studio to me.

Agreed.  A friend of mine who likes the Beach Boys but isn't a big fan or anything was over once, and Hushabye was playing, and she said something along the lines of "it's beautiful, but they don't really sound like humans."  Brian Wilson's golden age records used reverb and double-tracking to make their voices sound absolutely perfect, almost unreal.  Now that the tones of their voices have changed, those techniques aren't really effective anymore, the double tracking especially just sounds odd on modern-day Brian, so they're using different studio tricks.  Reality was never the point when it comes to the Beach Boys. 

I am psyched for the reunion no matter what - autotune or no autotune - but this post really pissed me off. This is not some minor pitch correction. It sounds like they have run all the voices through autotune as a matter of course. Just because you have cloth ears and can't hear it doesn't give you the right to denigrate those of us who can. Maybe you should torrent a copy of Pro Tools and see for yourself how pitch correction works.

Far from being someone who 'downloaded pro tools and thinks he knows what autotune sounds like,' I am a professional producer and musician. I have used autotune on other peoples' projects where requested for years now, and I know the characteristics of its sound. I can pick it out very easily in a mix when it is slathered on, which seems to be the norm for much commercial production nowadays. When it is used tastefully, it is harder to pick out, as on BWPS and other Brian Wilson albums. Most of the music I listen to does not obviously employ pitch correction/autotune, so when I hear it, it jumps out at me that much more.

One of the reasons listeners don't notice autotune anymore is because almost all modern commercial (top 50) music uses it excessively, not just to fix a few flubs here and there. Even when people can hit the notes, they often run their voices through Antares for pitch correction. It ends up sounding sterile. A colleague of mine knows the musical supervisor for a popular musical TV show - the producers of said show make her run the singers' voices through autotune, even though the cast are all great singers.

I'm not being negative about the reunion - autotune or no autotune, I will be psyched for it - but for those of us who have trained ears and can hear it, the use of pitch correction makes a human voice sound like a computer. It sounds unnatural, and it removes dynamics from the vocal. It is not aesthetically pleasing to many of us who, unlike you, are able to hear it.

This is the crux of why I don't put autotune in the same category as reverb, double tracking, etc. Those things change the quality of the voice, but even when they are slathered on, they don't beat the vocal into submission and make it into a pale shadow of itself. So much of a good vocal relies on feel and nuance, and autotune and its ilk can take those things away.

Of course, pitch correction is a tool like anything else, and can be used for a good aesthetic. I don't choose to use it on my own music, and I sometimes advise clients against it, because in a case like this (where all the voices are apparently tuned/corrected) it removes performance dynamic and makes material instantly dated - in 5-10 years, anyone who hears a song from the past decade with this type of autotune-by-default will immediately be able to place it.

Funny how 95 percent or so of the posters on this board seem to detect autotune immediately. That subject has been trivialized almost as much as the Jeff Foskett issue.

Agreed. These are all just tools. For me, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and unfortunately Autotune is often used nowadays on ALL the vocals in a song, for an aesthetic that will be extremely dated-sounding in a decade's time. That's what I hear on this snippet of "Do It Again."

I imagine that they may have run the vocals through pitch correction because the song is not yet finished and they wanted to have a professional sounding mix in time for this promo video. Hopefully on the final product, pitch correction will be used more judiciously, as it was on BWPS.

Agreed!

Edit: And I hope they raise the bass a bit in the mix. ;)

Hey, I wasn't trying to insult anyone's intelligence here or anything, I just feel as though many people here automatically labeled these vocals "Autotuned" without really knowing what it is or what it does.  I am, though to a presumably lesser extent than boots, familiar with digital recording. I'm not saying what boots stated isn't correct, he obviously knows what he's talking about, I was just saying that many UNinformed people automatically said "Autotuned!" when SO many other things than simply pitch correction were involved in this recording. That's all. 

Oh and Ron, thanks for sticking up for me, even if it cost you a few insults  ;D

I agree 100%.  Brian doubled tracked his vocals, so what? Of course he can't do that live, but the intent is to make a record that sounds a certain way.  Fair game. 

Exactly! They think it's a sign of how intune they are to notice how autotuned somebody else is.  It's bullshit.  Autotune is not drenched all over everything recorded, recently they were all but saying that Brian autotunes his live vocals because they know how it can be done.

Here's where it stems from: A lot of people dabble and make their own music, and they figure out how to use Autotune, then they insist that everybody else must be using it. 

No, they just sound pretty damn good.  They're not using any less or more autotune than anybody else.

Just because it's not used to T Pain extents (when have Maroon 5 used it?) doesn't mean it's not there and it's not annoying and, above all else, unnecessary. If you flubbed a line, you flubbed a line - go back and punch it in. I'll also say that the occasionally "off" line brings character to a vocal. It's f*cking all over the 60s and 70s Beach Boys albums and I would never, ever have it any other way.

Otherwise, manual pitch correction works wonders and, when done well, is completely undetectable in a final mix. I'm not opposed to that at all.

Lazily throwing subtle autotune over a vocal is generally pretty noticeable, and is, again, unnecessary when it'll generally only be a few specific lines or words that were a little sharp or flat. You're compromising the entire vocal over those few words or lines. It's stupid.

Take a little pride in your work - it's the difference between going through your room, cleaning, and organizing or just shoving everything in the closet and calling it done.

This use of autotune -- which has no precedent in BW's solo work, with one exception -- is what convinces me that Joe Thomas is still involved with this project.

Imagination featured a lot of pitch correction, on both lead and background vocals. Nothing else Brian has done has used quite as much (indeed, the Disney and Gershwin albums seem to have virtually none).

So unless Brian has suddenly developed a taste for passing every vocal track through the program, that means someone else has to be making those calls. I doubt it's anyone in Brian's band. And given Joe's previous enthusiastic use of the technology ...

I'm looking forward to hopefully Dave playing the guitar solo in the song.

Still got it? Heck...he never lost it!

Cut to 1.40sec

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCW19GMmNlk

Definitely. Triple tracked lead vocals..which btw works for Mike at this point. His lead doesn't bug me much in terms of tuning (although a little bit of isolation reveals some lazy tuning on one of the tracks).
The only thing that REALLY bugs me is the tunage on Foskett's "Bom Bom Bom"s. The sound just doesn't work with his voice. Destroys any hint of soul.
The autotune on Brian's harmonies in the bridge actually sounds kinda cool. It does sound like his leads were handled with care.

At the end of the day with or without autotune, it won't make a big difference to how this all plays out. Though who knows, maybe through this message board we CAN make a difference. We just wanna see our favorite band go out with a bang (which will happen regardless).

It's funny, because while I know that autotune bugs some people, and while it's certainly audible here --

It basically works for this. Do It Again is a very monotone, kind of an "automatic" style song, with an almost machine-like beat. Mike sounds pretty cool processed in this way. And Brian sounds fine too, even if there is one too many voices behind his (he seems to have doubled himself, but there's an extra person singing his part, too).

This is how I felt for large parts of Imagination, actually. I knew I shouldn't like the pitch correction, and while it did make Brian sound odd in a few places, it did generally work for the album's purposes (making Brian sound like an AC hitmaker). So it the purpose here is to make the BBs sound more contemporary -- well, maybe it's successful.

Brian being doubled on record needs to stop, too. It's extremely apparent that the man can sing just fine nowadays. It shouldn't happen live, either, but I guess I can kinda understand why it's done. Still, I'm not a fan of it.

Actually, I think what I hear there is Mike singing along. Which happens in the original record, I'm pretty sure.

But yeah -- Brian's voice these days sounds much better unadorned, with less echo, less multi-tracking, and less ghosting from other people.

Good call. Was thinking it might be Mike.. and if it is, what a great vocal!


I can see why they'd wanna replace Brian's "s"'s.. but other than that, yeah.. no need for ghosting his voice on record.

Yes, that's what popped into my head immediately. I wonder though if Joe Thomas was originally involved as coproducer (which we heard a few months back) and has now been marginalized into some other position, since all the publicity has said "Produced by Brian Wilson, Executive Produced by Mike Love."

I most audibly hear the pitch correction on Mike's voice - it sounds like it is snapping him between notes, as opposed to a more smooth, natural gradient. I like the way he sounds, and the phrasing and cadence are certainly the Mike Love we all know and love, but the timbre of his voice almost sounds like someone else. I wonder if it is because of the processing or just the way his voice has aged. It is definitely cool that they are recording "Do It Again" in the original key, which is something Brian has done in his concerts. It is certainly a rarity for performers of their vintage nowadays.

I agree with the previous poster who said that Brian's vocals sound awesome, and surprisingly it sounds like he is able to approximate his 1969 voice fairly well here. Glad to hear that. He is singing in a 'relaxed' manner like on BWRG and ITKOD.

It is cool that the group chose a relatively minor hit compared to their earlier songs, and one from the 20/20 era to boot. "Do it Again" is also, of course, the perfect message for this reunion.. let's get back together and do it again.

How does everyone feel about the boys coming back with a re-recording of an old surf-and-sun hit? How do you feel it bodes for the direction of the new material? Have we gotten confirmation that this is a standalone track (possibly for the compilation and/or box set) or will it be included on the album? Either way, I am psyched to hear the whole thing.

The video says it's meant for the new album.

The press release does not say that. So who knows.

I also bet that Joe Thomas is still fully involved (for a few reasons that will become clearer over time). Also: A co-producer credit is not the same as a dual production credit. That is, Brian and Joe were dually credited as producing Imagination. Scott Bennett is actually listed as co-producer of That Lucky Old Sun, but it's a separate credit line, several lines beneath "Produced and arranged by Brian Wilson." This trick was also pulled on BW88, where Andy Paley is listed as a "co-producer" on several songs, while BW is simply the "producer."

That's pretty much how I see it too.  Doesn't bother my ears at all, it's an effect on the song, and the song sounds fucking FANTASTIC!

Maroon 5 has used it on lots of their latest stuff, ie Moves Like Jagger and Misery.  I agree with the rest of your points though.

I really don't like the falsetto on this song, it's actually annoying

Maan, no more complaints from me. I'm just pumped to be hearing a brand new Beach Boys record.   :smokin

Stars and Stripes carried a Produced by Brian Wilson and Joe Thomas; Mike Love Executive Producer. If we can eliminate all of the crap from that album, we are at least left with Beach Boys vocals that sounded amazing. Yes?

I may be stating the obvious here, but I doubt that this is the final mix, some vocals are too high, others are too low, it needs some tweaking here, I think that what we are hearing is a working mix that has been put out to show us that something is coming soon and not a final mix that is up to scrutinisation by the masses, we shall have to wait to find out though I guess.

The whole shebang:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42619208/Do%20It%20Again%200707-960x540.mov

Yes, exactly. As I recall, Mike's vocal is also panned to the left in this mix, which is likely not where it would sit in a final mix.

Great stuff! This sounds better than the clip we saw on Friday - Mike's vocal sounds more natural and is mixed better, for one. No David Marks though unless I am mistaken. Thanks, PS! You just made my Sunday.

I guess this isn't a finished video - the "Getty Images" logo shows us that - not that I care at all, I just want to be the one to point it out.

O.K.  


That's f*cking awesome.  


Mike doesn't do the "beeennn soooo longgggggg....." as good as the original, but then for the rest of the fade out he does a really cool bass lick over and over again that I haven't heard on the original.

All in all, I think they did a great job, also the video has a nice vibe to it, and the harmony wall sounds great like it always does when you get those guys involved. 

Wait.... did hell just freeze over?  I just saw Brian Wilson hug Mike Love. 

OK... Some observatons after listening a few times...

The very beginning sounds like they simply sampled the original drum intro to "Do it Again." From the time that Mike's vocal begins, up until around thirty seconds, we can hear the drummer of the 2011 version hitting his bass drum and tom in the left channel on the three beat, then he comes in with the buildup and the sampled drums go away for the rest of the song.

I will bet dollars to donuts that when the drummer was doing that in the intro to keep time, he was probably hitting on the one beat and Brian told him to hit on the three, which is slightly ingenious as it goes so well with the song's vocal phrasing.

Excellent use of Fender Rhodes with guitar - timeless and contemporary all at once. The two go together like PB&J.

The pitch correction is still there, most notably on Jeff's falsetto and Mike's lead, but it seems to have beem toned down on the latter. In general, Mike's lead sounds a lot better than before because he is brought up in the mix, and the double-tracking seems smoother than it was before. Jeff's voice is so precise normally that he almost sounds autotuned anyway.

Whilst this hews pretty closely to the original arrangement upon first listen, there are a few new little twists that are very musically interesting, particularly in the backing vocals. I LOVE Brian's lead vocal, and I like that Mike starts his "been so long" phrase an octave up. Also, it's cool to be able to make out Brian's harmonies in the lower register.

Overall, very cool stuff! Thanks again for posting this, PS!

FAANTASTIC :-D I'm elated.

Also, just a thought, if those drums are sampled from the original, technically Dennis is on this.

Maybe it's a Watermark?

Anyway, I haven't spoken about the re-union yet, so let me just give one comment...

BRIAN'S VOICE IS BACK. And I think we might see a new falsetto lead from him? I hope so! :D

Remember "Your Imagination"? that was a pretty well charting song (not that that matters) and It used Brian's Falsetto back when it was still "meh"

Hell yeah! Brian just sounds awesome here. It looks like the past decade of his solo career has really paid off. Also, yes, Dennis is on the song technically! Too cool.

Mike sounds great, no nasal singing anymore like he did in the 80s and 90s.

can someone reup the video? that dropbox link isn't working anymore.

Yes, it says that the links are generating too much traffic.  :(

Yes please, re-up!!

Cmon people be a sport! Some of us are dying to see this!  ;)

ah, that was really really cool.

http://www.mediafire.com/?idb5zes084d9jll

 ::)

Here you go - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/53825723/Do%20It%20Again%200707-960x540.mov

Beautiful... just beautiful...