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Author Topic: "Getcha Back" falsetto  (Read 33414 times)
runnersdialzero
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« Reply #50 on: June 13, 2010, 03:55:50 PM »

It sounds to me like the falsetto on Getcha Back is looped, as if he nailed it once, and they kept repeating it for the duration of the song.

Bingo. My thoughts.

Kind of like how the chorus of "Good Vibrations" was nailed once and was repeated for the duration of the song?
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Don_Zabu
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« Reply #51 on: June 13, 2010, 06:48:32 PM »

Either way, it's Mike's most annoying vocal track.
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« Reply #52 on: June 13, 2010, 09:28:20 PM »

Is this the Surfer Girl video referenced above?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE6xnns1lpw
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« Reply #53 on: June 13, 2010, 10:46:43 PM »

My perception seems to differ from many people's regarding this falsetto part.  It sounds like a typical 1976-1995 shrill coke-cigs-cheeseburgers Brian falsetto (15 Big Ones through Wilson-Paley) to me-- but triple-tracked.  I don't hear any of the "one last time like the old days" quality that some people are hearing, nor do I hear any digital processing hoo-ha beyond reverb and compression.  To me his falsetto sounds ten times better than that (and no less on-key-- the accuracy of the pitch of that falsetto is all over the place) on most of GIOMH, and even on BW '88. 

I think the highest falsetto note on the track is a fourth-line-on-treble-clef-actual sounding-pitch D (the song starts off in the key of A, and shifts up to B-flat, IIRC), which as you'll see, is at or only one whole-step above the range that Brian uses in concert and on recording nowadays.  Not only that, but he sang at least a whole step higher on record perhaps ten years after the BB '85 album.

Everything above a second-line G is falsetto for Brian, at least these last few decades, and all pitches referred to herein are above that G.  The highest he ever sang in the 60's was F (Surf's Up demo, among probably many examples) or G, other than a whooped REALLY high B-flat on Forever at the end.

I think BW '88 and Sweet Insanity may have both gone as high as top-line F above that aforementioned D in the Getcha Back BV's-- not sure.  For sure, his highest falsetto on OCA (recorded 1993-1995) go up to a top-space E  (same top note as Let Him Run Wild, original version).  As far as the Wilson/Paley sessions (pitch-corrected version)-- probably an E in BV's-- not sure.   

After that-- highest on Imagination (1998): third-space C.  Highest on BW on Tour DVD-- D-flat (C-sharp) (demonstrating the falsetto of Desert Drive in rehearsal to Jeff).  Highest on GIOMH (BV's [backing vocals] for The Waltz) and Xmas (Joy to the World): C.  Highest on Xmas mp3 "The Xmas Song" (08?)-- C in (pitch-corrected-to-hell-and-back) BV's.  Highest on SMiLE-- B? (But it sounds like Brian singing both parts on the ascending and descending BV scales for the "Over and over the crow flies" part to me, and that goes up to 4th-line D.)

Highest live since touring: C one of the early songs (I forget which) added in perhaps '08-09 (car song? -- the lead vocals were a duet with Foskett.)   Pet Sounds Live took him to a strong Ab in falsetto (Don't Talk), a long shouted A in Sloop John B (harmonizing above Jeff, who is singing the melody on that refrain-- remember how rough that was on whichever TV talk-show he sang it on in 2001-ish-- the appearance where he kind-of-forcibly grinned into the camera for the whole song) and a brief shouted B-flat (I Know There's an Answer).  Highest live in 2010-- at least B-flat, maybe a quick thin-sounding C.

TLOS demos-- C, I think.  TLOS proper: at least B-flat (pretty wordless part at about the three-fifths point of Midnight's Another Day).

Overall, his backing vocals on practically every song on every single album through the TLOS demos (06 or 07) have a falsetto part on top of his blocked harmonies.  (SMiLE and WIRWFC used the band with Jeff on top, but still included a few chord-topping Brian falsettos from time to time.)

It's amazing that these days not only does he enunciate (new teeth) and sing with feeling and involvement with the lyrics like he hasn't done in about 35 years, but his tardive dyskenesia (sp.?) appears to be about two-thirds gone, compared to 1994 (IJWMFTT film).  He's singing higher live now than he did five years ago-- he tops out both live and recently-recorded at a high C for BV's, and maybe a B-flat for lead vocals), and he almost never falls into that "I just ate 37 saltines without drinking a drop of water, and now I'm live on stage, singing falsetto where I should be singing chest voice but I can't because of debilitating anxiety!  Damn saltines!" sort of falsetto any longer.  Those high c's are generally more smooth-sounding than they were 10 or 15 years ago, though perhaps not as strong and unwavering in pitch and intensity.  For the past few years he's been able to knock out an occasional phrase or two with that sweet 1965 Blue-Xmas sound, for example The First Nowell, Wind Chimes, and Forever My Surfer Girl.  Not to mention the fact that I can almost hear Brian's beard growing back in Live Let Live (TLOS version only). 

I have a gut feeling this man is still singing high F's in the shower, and he's gonna let one more of them rip before he hits 80, and we're all going to crap our pants.  So far, the last 11 years of Brian's life have been about making us self-defecate every once in a while over some new song he pulls out of his hat (like the entire SMiLE album), or seeing  him sound and appear inexplicably better in some way, from year to year.

And now he's finishing Gershwin songs.  Jeez Louise.  And the project's "engaged him at a very high level" (or some slight semantic variant, according to a post from AGD).  Jeez Double Louise, with two moon pies for good measure.  However, I do fear the Disney songs album may end up having a bit of that WIRWFC cheese-burger-song vibe to the arrangements, but time will tell.

Yeah, I have perfect pitch!  Evil   Back into my hole.

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« Reply #54 on: June 14, 2010, 04:58:37 AM »

What an awesome post.
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Ron
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« Reply #55 on: June 14, 2010, 12:21:34 PM »

I'm surprised that there's any question on whether Brian is singing falsetto on Getcha back... it's obviously him, because nobody else sounds that crazy! I mean he sounds like he's got the tin foil hat on.  Same thing with Wipeout.  If Jeff sang all of it, it'd sound better, lol. 
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runnersdialzero
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« Reply #56 on: June 14, 2010, 12:25:54 PM »

I'm surprised that there's any question on whether Brian is singing falsetto on Getcha back... it's obviously him, because nobody else sounds that crazy! I mean he sounds like he's got the tin foil hat on.  Same thing with Wipeout.  If Jeff sang all of it, it'd sound better, lol. 

That's debatable.
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« Reply #57 on: June 14, 2010, 12:28:29 PM »

Bill: Great post... I feel almost exactly like you, but don't have perfect pitch or the theory to back it up like you do.

One question: Do you know what the high note is Brian hits at the crazy part of "Good Vibrations" ?  The "Look" part near the end.  To me, that note sounds as high or higher than Surf's up. 
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Ron
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« Reply #58 on: June 14, 2010, 12:29:28 PM »

I'm surprised that there's any question on whether Brian is singing falsetto on Getcha back... it's obviously him, because nobody else sounds that crazy! I mean he sounds like he's got the tin foil hat on.  Same thing with Wipeout.  If Jeff sang all of it, it'd sound better, lol. 

That's debatable.

Better as in 'cleaner, thicker' definately.  I of course love Brian's voice over Jeff's, even with the insane sound to it. 
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runnersdialzero
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« Reply #59 on: June 14, 2010, 12:32:35 PM »

My perception seems to differ from many people's regarding this falsetto part.  It sounds like a typical 1976-1995 shrill coke-cigs-cheeseburgers Brian falsetto (15 Big Ones through Wilson-Paley) to me-- but triple-tracked.

wat? That vocal isn't triple tracked or even double tracked - just one voice, there, and to me, it sounds great.

Quote
I don't hear any of the "one last time like the old days" quality that some people are hearing, nor do I hear any digital processing hoo-ha beyond reverb and compression.  To me his falsetto sounds ten times better than that (and no less on-key-- the accuracy of the pitch of that falsetto is all over the place) on most of GIOMH, and even on BW '88.

Hrm. To each his own - his falsetto has certainly sounded good on many occasions since "Getcha Back", but I really think that particular vocal is closer to Brian's older falsetto than anything 75-85. Again, no one here said, "It sounds like Brian from 1964!", people have just said it's closer to that than the falsetto he'd been using on the few records before "Getcha Back".

I really feel the quality of that particular falsetto part is much, much better than anything 75-85 or anything since, as well.

Rest of your post was pretty interesting, tho. Noice observations.
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« Reply #60 on: June 14, 2010, 12:52:22 PM »

One question: Do you know what the high note is Brian hits at the crazy part of "Good Vibrations" ?  The "Look" part near the end.  To me, that note sounds as high or higher than Surf's up. 
I believe that's a G.
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« Reply #61 on: June 14, 2010, 05:56:38 PM »

Hmmm.  If the Surf's up note is an F, then I guess that leaves his highest note on his biggest hit.  He certainly had an incredible voice, something to be in awe over.  I always thought though that his best vocals were on the kind of lesser stuff, like Girls on the Beach and the songs around that time.  He had such a pure sound, really nice and thick. 
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« Reply #62 on: June 14, 2010, 06:18:24 PM »

His '60s voice is to my ears the best pop music voice of all time. Obviously it's a personal taste thing, but I absolutely love his tone and flexibility in those years. Some people I know don't care for how he'd scoop to notes, or his whine. I love it entirely.
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« Reply #63 on: June 14, 2010, 10:15:47 PM »

His '60s voice is to my ears the best pop music voice of all time. Obviously it's a personal taste thing, but I absolutely love his tone and flexibility in those years. Some people I know don't care for how he'd scoop to notes, or his whine. I love it entirely.

Brian? Scooping? The few instances I can think of where he did it, he did it well - lots of vocalists do it very, very poorly and it really ruins recordings.
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« Reply #64 on: June 15, 2010, 12:17:38 AM »

What was the highest note of Mike, Al, Carl, Dennis and Bruce?
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« Reply #65 on: June 15, 2010, 06:35:54 PM »

Brian was really good and strong at that greatest hits tour last year.  Surprised me....put out like crazy..strained on a couple notes here and there...very good and very authentic.....a couple of coughs, and right back to it.   Best I've seen him live and in person.......and that is more than a few times.

So hes still got it for a guy kickin 70.
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« Reply #66 on: June 15, 2010, 08:04:27 PM »

Brian was really good and strong at that greatest hits tour last year.  Surprised me....put out like crazy..strained on a couple notes here and there...very good and very authentic.....a couple of coughs, and right back to it.   Best I've seen him live and in person.......and that is more than a few times.

So hes still got it for a guy kickin 70.

My brother saw him live just two weeks ago, having seen him in '99, '01 and '04, and said he sounded best this most recent time.
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« Reply #67 on: June 15, 2010, 08:13:28 PM »

His '60s voice is to my ears the best pop music voice of all time. Obviously it's a personal taste thing, but I absolutely love his tone and flexibility in those years. Some people I know don't care for how he'd scoop to notes, or his whine. I love it entirely.

I totally agree with everything you say except for the scooping bit because I don't know what that means - can anyone fill me in?
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« Reply #68 on: July 19, 2010, 04:49:08 AM »

Don't think this quote has showed up yet here:

Levine: "Those high bits on 'Getcha Back' took ages to do, and I must say that Terry Melcher gets credit for virtually forcing Brian to get those.  Brian was very reluctant to do them because they were such classic Beach Boys things". (from MIX Magazine in '85).
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« Reply #69 on: July 19, 2010, 11:00:25 AM »

I'm not a trained musician, but I believe scooping is starting to sing the the note one harmonic third below the correct pitch, and then quickly riding it up to perfect pitch of the proper note -- typically in notes of a half measure or longer in 4/4 time.  I'm glad someone else pointed it out, because I've always thought Brian did that with his crooning falsetto.  An example would be the first line of "Blue Christmas":

"I'll have a blue, Christmas, without you" (with "blue" and the first syllable of "Christmas" being "scooped")

It's not an unpleasant effect at all, when the start of the scoop is in perfect pitch at the lower harmonic, and the note ends in perfect pitch.  Brian does some of that on the new Gershwin tracks.

You musicians out there, correct me if I'm wrong!   Smiley

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« Reply #70 on: July 19, 2010, 12:08:16 PM »

So I'd say I'm a pretty knowlegable fan, but what would you guys say are the top Brian falsetto's post '74-mid 80's and then post "Getcha Back". In the first case I'd probably say "You've Lost that Loving Feeling". And in the post "Getcha Back" category, I really don't know, was there some on "Melt Away"? "Daddy's Little Girl" was horrendous. What else did he do falsetto on lately?
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« Reply #71 on: July 19, 2010, 12:51:08 PM »

He hits some nice falsetto notes on the BWPS "Surf's Up" and "Live Let Live" from TLOS.

Edit -- Also "The First Noel" from the Christmas album. The "Imagination" album is probably the last time he did anything extended in falsetto -- both "She Said that She Needs Me" and "Cry" are pretty awesome.
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« Reply #72 on: July 19, 2010, 01:26:10 PM »

I don't know if it's quite falsetto per se, but in "Let It Shine" he hits some good highs before the first chorus ["The cover of an endless dream..." bit]. For whatever that's worth, anyway.
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« Reply #73 on: July 20, 2010, 07:07:28 PM »

I just had to add my two cents here.

If you compare Brian's singing on "Caroline No" his whining part to the "Getcha Back" vocal in question, you can hear an older Brian.

Its definitely Brian on "Getcha Back" & "Wipeout".

Also, remember, Brian would double his and the rest of the Beach Boys voices for a thicker vocal which he started to do on the song "Surfin USA".

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« Reply #74 on: July 20, 2010, 09:21:05 PM »

He hits some nice falsetto notes on the BWPS "Surf's Up" and "Live Let Live" from TLOS.

Edit -- Also "The First Noel" from the Christmas album. The "Imagination" album is probably the last time he did anything extended in falsetto -- both "She Said that She Needs Me" and "Cry" are pretty awesome.

All excellent examples...his falsetto really sounded great on Imagination I thought, all throughout the album.  "Cry" gave me chills when he hit those high notes against the close harmonies.  It's a somewhat cheesy song, but I though his high voice on "Dream Angel" was great too...in the outro, his falsetto almost sounds like it used to, in a very "Getcha Back" kind of way. 
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