The Smiley Smile Message Board

Just had this mag through the door and the two-page review doesn't pull punches.

Reviewer David Cavanagh is well informed – gives full due to the band's status and heritage but lays into the decision to use Auto-Tune. Refers to "horribly metallic noises" emerging from their mouths.  "It's so unfortunate," he writes. "The pardonable human flaws of a 'naked' Beach Boys concert would have been far better than sitting, teeth clenched, through 'Surfin' USA' or 'Sail On Sailor', which aren't so much Mike and Brian as Ralf and Florian."

I had to look that last reference up -  it's a Kraftwerk album.

Also refers to MIC: "Everyone now sits tight for the six-disc, career-spanning Beach Boys boxset due in August. And hopes they get it right."

Alongside is a potted interview with Bruce in which he states "You're telling me they used Auto-Tune on the album, after the fact? You know more than I do. I had nothing to do with the production of this album. Well I'm sorry to hear it. We seem to be living in pitch-corrected times…"

Also says: "…take it from the horse's mouth: we don't use it onstage. I generally think I have decent pitch. Of course, I still see a 30-year-old when I look in the mirror."

Cavanagh gives the album 6/10.

Can't find the review online yet but it can't be long a'coming.

It, tragically, does not represent the outstandingly superb quality of the actual performances. 

I haven't given much thought to the auto-tune controversy -- nor have I given the album a critical/audiophile listening -- just enjoying the album for what it is.

Maybe a unfiltered raw version of the show will turn up someday?

Mr. Cavanagh is a good egg.

I've got to say I agree with the first post. It's a crying shame, and it seems the Beach Boys themselves were not involved in the decision to use pitch correction.

As I said before. If I want to hear a square wave I'll plug in my signal generator.

My wife, who is no audiophile whatsoever, noticed the autotune immediately.

(http://img.spokeo.com/public/900-600/bruce_johnston_2012_02_12.jpg)

71 is the new 30.

""…take it from the horse's mouth: we don't use it onstage." is the new "we used voice processing for the first bunch of C50 shows but cut it out after a while. With the M&B show, how could you justify the expense and effort? Also JT isn't coproducing these shows. But I knew you weren't really asking about the M&B show."

Any other interesting tidbits from Bruce's interview?

Expense and effort to use Autotune? It's a digital audio plug-in (or standalone unit) that costs around 400 bucks, you set the key and intensity level for each song and vocalist, and there it is.

For the Mike Love touring edition. Why bother paying the extra money? Having somebody work it for live performances and load up the keys for each song unless you wanted a weird fixed effect straight through that sounded horrendous? Even if it helped, I can't see Mr. Love being very fussed to bother. I haven't watched the SeaWorld video in it's entirety, tho. How about as penance I go do that?

Say, didn't someone say he liked using a vocal doubler or somesuch effect? I sure as hell do for live mucking about. "Me push button and voice sound pseudostronger!" Those unfortunate enough to have heard my voice can understand.

Yeah, anything else from the interview would be appreciated.

Penance in the form of a Sea World video - that is hilarious.  ;D

It's really not that big of a deal or added expense, considering the majority of live shows in general, at least those above the bar/club/pub venues, are touring with full lighting and special effects systems which are programmed and controlled digitally, including lighting cues and spotlights and all of that. And the live shows in general over the past decade or more are for the most part automated, not saying the engineer doesn't need to work on-the-fly at all, but depending on the act a lot of the basic setups are pre-programmed. You could call up something like "Little Deuce Coupe" and the settings would be there minus the tweaks.

Similar systems are in place at some high schools in the US for their stage productions, musicals, and whatnot - no reason to think the BB's wouldn't have that capability times ten.

So, is this going to be a "Mike is an a$$ because he doesn't let his band use autotune on stage"-thread? What a strange world (no pun) this board has become.

Anyway, about the review snippets, they're dead-on. There are some good parts on the album but mostly it's just very disappointing. Not the performances themselves but the production. Some of the recordings were kown from the japanese TV broadcast and were already worked on then (Isn't It Time, H&V a.o. iirc) but they just went on and destroyed them. And you can't tell me they hadn't a good enough live performance of "Isn't it time" so they had to cut the studio version into it....

Sometimes it's a better idea to not look for the worst case scenario and just relax, have fun, and take things with the touch of sarcasm and wink-and-nod joking spirit around the way some of these things are posted and discussed.

It's got very hard around here to do so. Many things I never thought could be anything but joking around turned out to be honestly meant arguments... But I'm relieved that I didn't get the joke this time...  :)

That's just it - some of this comes down to wading into the conversation seeing the glass as half full or half empty in a way, and if something does turn out to be an honestly meant argument, the whole vibe changes. I know some of my humor has been misinterpreted in the past as being a serious jab at something, where the intent was sarcasm or getting a laugh.

In the case of Autotune in general related to this topic, it's become so ubiquitous in all styles of music that the best we can do as fans and listeners is speak up loudly when we feel it is distracting from the performances or the songs themselves, and with some of these "C50th" issues we have every right to do so as the people being asked to buy the products. Some bands whose stock and trade is vocals and the beauty or even rawness of those vocals just do not jive with obvious applications of that processing, and it's no different than when we listen to a record cut in 1988 and balk at the way everything down to a snare hit has that digital overprocessed vibe as opposed to the sound of those records that got us interested in the artist in the first place.

what about the autotune on TWGMTR? is there any hope that it'll ever be silently reissued with it removed?

No.

In My Room, Disney Girls, California Saga, All This Is That, Pet Sounds are probably the highlights. They even autotuned poor Al. And Bruce on Wendy. Why oh why? Such a shame.

I'm a completest - I've got to have everything. I cannot wait to fork out my hard-earned cash for MIC.

However - I really resented paying money for C50 Live Album. What a monumental f***-up!

Does anyone know... who was behind the decision to release the album like this?

Someone who knew he or she could rely on people like you.

Well, a live set was inevitable. What you have to ask is who is responsible for the sound of the thing. That's Joe Thomas and BW (I suspect the former with the bare minimum of involvement and approval of the latter)

It was a terrible release and all involved should hang their heads.

That reviewer thinks like a smiley smile board member  :lol

Exactly my thoughts when I read the piece. Maybe he lurks here or posts under another name… step forward DC…!

All I know is -- I'll be playing the doo-doo out of this album this 4th of July holiday!!!!

 :drum

as usual, bean bag and the professor are incomplete Accord. I will be blasting the album all over LA tomorrow thinking of the Beach Boys and how they touch my heart and how I love the Beach Boys and how my whole life is the Beach Boys the Beach Boys the Beach Boys.I will ignore the various instances of auto tune which can be overlooked if you are not a technical purist. Thank You bag, your messages always make me feel so much better about everything.

If you work hard enough you can force yourself to enjoy any poor product!

Just while on the C50 topic, I found this clip today. I know its in poor taste but check out Al's accident at about 1.40  ;D

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbH0eOmUhUE

Perhaps a profanity or two not picked up on the mic? :lol

I noticed he still gave the record a six. For all the autotune, a lot of it is still quite listenable!

Warning to AL: Fire is HOT! Don't touch.

Not... exactly...  ;)

Me thinks David lives in Surrey and has a beard. ;D

Edit: Never mind.

Man that was funny! Maybe somewhere down the line Capitol can release a 'You've Been Framed' style clips collection of more Accidental Al's mishaps?

...includung Alan Jardine guitar strap fails:

http://youtu.be/IRsvkWokUqU?t=57s (http://youtu.be/IRsvkWokUqU?t=57s)

http://youtu.be/K3PdP7ikQZM?t=3m53s (http://youtu.be/K3PdP7ikQZM?t=3m53s)