Elliot Smith Vocal sound

OM15.2 · Post by **OM15.2** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 8:42 pm

Tatertot wrote:This is getting complicated. Is knobtwirler 'in the doghouse'?

I must concede the point about E. Smith and J. Denver. The comparison really is spot on (and I do enjoy them both from time to time)

Now am I in the doghouse too?

So where's the dog going to sleep?

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:24 pm

(placeholding post so I can think of a clever response all night and come back in the morning to deploy it here using the 'edit' function)

Eric Rottmayer · Post by **Eric Rottmayer** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:19 pm

knobtwirler wrote:The first sentence is probably the highest compliment I could receive. Thank you. The second sentence shows a gross misunderstanding of what I was saying. Don't take things so personally when people analyze your idols.

not to beat a dead dog, but i have in no way taken your harsh
generalizations about singing personally. and the arguement here stopped
being about Elliott Smith when you made your first post. i was simply
commenting on the validity of your idea about singers being either good or
bad only, which i believe to be false. you are wrong.

Ben Logan · Post by **Ben Logan** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 10:04 am

fum wrote:
I was watching the footage, and my 3 year old asked me "Why is he sad?"

Regards

ju

Whoa. Three year olds are incredibly perceptive. I've got one too. He recently noticed a pock-mark on my forehead and asked, "Daddy, what is that hole in your head? Does a small animal live in there?"

knobtwirler · Post by **knobtwirler** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 12:18 pm

eric Metronome wrote:
knobtwirler wrote: i was simply
commenting on the validity of your idea about singers being either good or
bad only, which i believe to be false. you are wrong.
Oh. One thing I've learned about weak singers(that's what they are called, not bad singers) is that they just don't have strong vocal cords and also don't attempt to strengthen them. Singers who have strong vocal cords, either naturally or through exercise, tend to be called "good". Tone deaf doesn't fall into any category, cause that is not singing. Was I coming off as a singing Nazi or something?

Eric Rottmayer · Post by **Eric Rottmayer** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:15 pm

knobtwirler wrote:Oh. One thing I've learned about weak singers(that's what they are called, not bad singers) is that they just don't have strong vocal cords and also don't attempt to strengthen them. Singers who have strong vocal cords, either naturally or through exercise, tend to be called "good". Tone deaf doesn't fall into any category, cause that is not singing. Was I coming off as a singing Nazi or something?

ok, so maybe we're arguing two different things into oblivion. i'm saying that
applying narrow limits on something very wide and varried, like art, can be
dangerous and, well, useless.

you're basically saying that the music you have deemed technically proficient
is the only valid music...anything less is NOT music. which is horribly narrow.
what about someone like Ian Mackaye? pretty much tone-deaf as a singer,
yet he created highly regarded songs and singing with Fugazi.

jamoo · Post by **jamoo** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:06 pm

I used to walk by Jackpot! regularly, several years ago and well before I made the connection to the magazine. Never quite saw it as 'shifty', but otherwise my experience sounds pretty much the same.

cdbabel wrote:
Phiz wrote:Our own Larry Crane recorded some of his stuff. Larry says a little bit about what he used in this recent interview.
Thats crazy, I used to drive by the Jackpot! Studio every day. I had no idea that was where some of my favorite albums were recorded (from the outside, it looks kinda shifty! Oh how appearances deceive.)

knobtwirler · Post by **knobtwirler** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 10:03 pm

eric Metronome wrote: pretty much tone-deaf as a singer,
yet he created highly regarded songs and singing with Fugazi.

The singer of Fugazi is tone-deaf? Interesting. I know I don't like their music much, but that had nothing to do with the singing. I actually like music and singing that is not that technically proficient, my own compositions being exactly that.

ataraxia · Post by **ataraxia** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:27 am

Ian Mackaye is amazing...tone deaf? the way he controls his insturment(s) is perfection. Have you seen fugazi live? His voice might not please the ears to everyone but in sounds in tune/perfectly controlled to me. The whole "Argument" album is a testament to that. which for some reason gives me this sense of irony. best album of 2001...i think so.

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 11:49 am

Eric Metronome : Oh, come on now. Ian McKay is probably not tone deaf. Listen carefully. I think he is very consistent in his strategic use of sharp notes for dramatic effect. If he were to sing totally in tune he would not sound like himself anymore.

That's a lot different from somebody who simply cannot (or does not) carry a tune.

Eric Rottmayer · Post by **Eric Rottmayer** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 7:14 pm

Tatertot wrote: That's a lot different from somebody who simply cannot (or does not) carry a tune.

that's what i was saying...someone who is trying and is incredible can be
just as good or better than someone who isn't trying at all. it's YOU...and
YOU who are saying they can't sing...if they are singing, then they are
singing. just cause you don't like it to your ears doesn't mean that person
isn't singing.

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 8:21 pm

Oops, I forgot to say: I like how Ian McKay sings. I think the Minor Threat stuff is some of the best music ever. Sorry I guess I never clarified that.

TapeOpHillary · Post by **TapeOpHillary** » Wed May 10, 2006 9:23 pm

siouxsie can't sing. ogre can't sing.
i love the sound of both of their voices. i love their records.
thank god for modern recording and pitch correction.

anyone heard the new lisa germano? that's some seriously eerie vocal production on her part. it's horrible sounding recording but interesting vocal effect - like she's lying next to you...

bigideas · Post by **bigideas** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 9:29 pm

I believe I've read that Elliott double tracked his vocals just because he preferred that sound to using reverb. Also, I know he liked the Beatles, so I'm sure he was probably trying to sound like Lennon sonically.

When I first heard Elliott I also thought maybe that he double tracked all the time because of weak vocals, but since then I have heard a few songs with single tracked vocals and he seems to have a decent vocal range.

Greg Nagy · Post by **Greg Nagy** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:28 pm

Many many years ago I was driving around in my slightly beat up 77 Chevy Monza listening to the local FM Rock station in Flint MI. On the radio came this killer song. When the song finished the dj said, "what a great great band, too bad they will never go anywhere...they need a real vocalist". It was Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' Flint debut. lol
I wish I could remember that DJs name...

Message Board

Elliot Smith Vocal sound

Re: Jackpot!

True Story

Who is online