Recorded vs live line ups
Discussion
A question I have been pondering for a while; if as a band you produce a certain sound in the recording studio, should you not be able to reproduce that sound live without adding extra musicians to the line up? Bands that are ostensibly three pieces e.g Muse, Green Day and Biffy Clyro last night at Glastonbury use an additional guitarist live. Foo Fighters used an additional guitarist until Pat Smear joined the full time line up. The Killers had a keyboard player and additional guitarist hidden away at the back of the stage for one of their Hyde Park gigs I saw on the box. I think Bon Jovi also do the same and I am pretty sure U2 have some help hidden somewhere at the back.
Is it just about the £££? I assume touring musicians work for more than just beans? Is it better/worse than using backing tapes e.g The Who and Baba O'Riley?
I am not digging at these bands having zero musical abilities myself, but I am a great music fan and this somehow seems a bit disingenuous to me
Is it just about the £££? I assume touring musicians work for more than just beans? Is it better/worse than using backing tapes e.g The Who and Baba O'Riley?
I am not digging at these bands having zero musical abilities myself, but I am a great music fan and this somehow seems a bit disingenuous to me
I hate this trend of recreating the album sound live. A waste of money IMO.
What I like to hear is a band doing something different with material with the constraints of the live situation. It makes for something exciting and interesting.
Examples: Tangerine Dream up to 1979, every concert was ne, fresh and interesting. Now live they're just playing some stuff over the multitrack of the studio recordings.
Pink Floyd live at Pompeii is an exciting run through some classic early floyd; Pulse is sleep inducing dog s
t.
What I like to hear is a band doing something different with material with the constraints of the live situation. It makes for something exciting and interesting.
Examples: Tangerine Dream up to 1979, every concert was ne, fresh and interesting. Now live they're just playing some stuff over the multitrack of the studio recordings.
Pink Floyd live at Pompeii is an exciting run through some classic early floyd; Pulse is sleep inducing dog s
t.Dracoro said:
Many artists create music with many instruments/layers that can't be correctly reproduced live (at least not with the limit of band member/instrument ratio) .This is totally fine.
Otherwise it's like saying filmmakers should only makes films that can be reproduced in a theatre......
True enough.Otherwise it's like saying filmmakers should only makes films that can be reproduced in a theatre......
It depends on the band though - someone like Muse I would find it acceptable to have an extra guitarist, as they're only a three piece and if Matt Bellamy is playing keys there's nobody on the guitar.
davepoth said:
True enough.
It depends on the band though - someone like Muse I would find it acceptable to have an extra guitarist, as they're only a three piece and if Matt Bellamy is playing keys there's nobody on the guitar.
Or try a different arrangement of the song with the 3-piece. It makes it more interesting.It depends on the band though - someone like Muse I would find it acceptable to have an extra guitarist, as they're only a three piece and if Matt Bellamy is playing keys there's nobody on the guitar.
If I wanted to hear it just like the album, why don't I stay at home and just play the album?
Dracoro said:
There's a couple of 10/12 minute live versions that are up there with the best performances of a live song ever.
Care to cite some dates for those gigs - I'm a bit of a Cure fan myself.As it happens, I think "Concert" is a fince example of getting a different insight into songs
The great british music weekend (early 90's, I had bootleg back in the 90's, was a great set) version is out there somewhere.
There's a version from the wish tour with an extra verse at the end. It's one of the 4/5 tracks that were not on the Show cd but is on the video.
There's a version from the wish tour with an extra verse at the end. It's one of the 4/5 tracks that were not on the Show cd but is on the video.
Edited by Dracoro on Sunday 26th June 01:11
Seeker UK said:
Or try a different arrangement of the song with the 3-piece. It makes it more interesting.
If I wanted to hear it just like the album, why don't I stay at home and just play the album?
That's all well and good, and usually we would play the songs differently live to recorded. But with some stuff there was no way to play all of the needed parts from the recording to make the song sound like the song. If I wanted to hear it just like the album, why don't I stay at home and just play the album?
I love seeing bands that can recreate their album sound in a live situation. Don't get me wrong, I love it when they do something different with a live track, but only as long as they make it sound great.
As an example, I witnessed Angels and Airwaves live a few years ago (they were a support act - I'd never pay money to see them headlining) and I'd heard a couple of their tracks. Live they couldn't recreate the sound, which to me is pointless. They had over produced the studio tracks which meant the band on stage sounded nothing like the band on the record. This to me is terrible, I view it as the album almost being a massive lie as it clearly isn't them I'm listening to.
Adding another musician for a tour is, in my eyes, a good thing. As said earlier, it can give certain members of the band more freedom in terms of stage presence by allowing them to interact with the crowd and move around the stage more freely. It can also beef up the sound and allow the recreation of the album track.
Of course there is a difference, there are bands that will go out on tour and deliberately change the sound of their songs when performed live. Because these bands sound great anyway the live tracks will still sound awesome (e.g. Dave Matthews Band). Then there are bands who seem more concerned about looking good on stage rather than sounding good, these bands will play their tracks, but without all the extra instruments and over processed sound they end up sounding like complete rubbish.
Just my 2 cents, apologies for the length.
As an example, I witnessed Angels and Airwaves live a few years ago (they were a support act - I'd never pay money to see them headlining) and I'd heard a couple of their tracks. Live they couldn't recreate the sound, which to me is pointless. They had over produced the studio tracks which meant the band on stage sounded nothing like the band on the record. This to me is terrible, I view it as the album almost being a massive lie as it clearly isn't them I'm listening to.
Adding another musician for a tour is, in my eyes, a good thing. As said earlier, it can give certain members of the band more freedom in terms of stage presence by allowing them to interact with the crowd and move around the stage more freely. It can also beef up the sound and allow the recreation of the album track.
Of course there is a difference, there are bands that will go out on tour and deliberately change the sound of their songs when performed live. Because these bands sound great anyway the live tracks will still sound awesome (e.g. Dave Matthews Band). Then there are bands who seem more concerned about looking good on stage rather than sounding good, these bands will play their tracks, but without all the extra instruments and over processed sound they end up sounding like complete rubbish.
Just my 2 cents, apologies for the length.
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