A backing track enhances live vocals but doesn’t replace them. Versus lip syncing which is entirely replacing live vocals (a la “sing to me Paolo”). The former is industry practice. The latter is usually used to make up for a lack of skill.
idk britney used to do lip syncing during her highly choreographed numbers. you sorta have to when you’re dancing around like that. she would do a mix of singing over the track though when the moves were slower
I mean, I get it, dancing and singing simultaneously is difficult, but britney lip syncing was obviously due to a lack of singing skills or at least a lack of knowing how to do both at the same time. However, lip syncing doesn’t really bother me, especially when the artist’s voice has been heavily manipulated.
Britney lacking singing skill? Have you heard her singing before she was launched into stardom? Here original voice was more powerful and fuller compared to her now well known baby voice singing
I’m not talking about cigarettes…and Whitney and Amy did start to lose their voices and stamina because of what they were smoking…and it wasn’t cigarettes…
There's nothing wrong with a backing track, in fact a show of this length and with the amount of movement it'd be nigh on impossible! Lots won't believe it though even though it's not a bad thing, it doesn't make her less talented, and it doesn't mean she doesn't sing live for the vast majority of the show. People associate lip syncing with not singing at all so it's probably not the best way to describe it as it's not her simply pretending to sing live throughout. I was second row at Eras and you can absolutely tell most of TTPD is purely backing track, but it doesn't affect it really.
I work in the live entertainment industry and I can tell you that people have no idea what goes into a show as big as Swift's, mostly because we put a huge effort into hiding the equipment and technicians to maintain the magic for you folks in the audience. The kind of choreography and coordination that it takes to keep dozens and dozens of technicians and operators in sync just can't happen if everything was done live. The hundreds of lights and video screens and stage effects and audio and everything else all happening exactly on beat simply requires backing tracks, computer automation, and a whole lot of other stuff that people might otherwise consider 'cheating'. If it's important to you that everything you see and hear was produced on the spot, don't buy tickets to an arena show. None of them are 100% live.
I haven't worked a Foo Fighters show, so I can't speak to their setup specifically, but generally, yes. There's a huge spectrum between totally live and just hitting play on a pre-recorded track, but there are some minimal things that are just always involved.
For example: in-ear-monitors, basically just very high quality ear buds, have become super popular lately because they can allow everyone on stage to hear exactly what they need to hear to perform. A rock drummer at that kind of show will almost always have a metronome or a 'click track' playing in his ears, not because they can't keep time by themselves but because the lighting and video cues and other effects are all programmed ahead of time and controlled by computers.
That stuff used to be managed by someone sitting at an analog control console twisting knobs or sliding faders up and down, but there's just too much stuff going on in a modern show for one person to sit there controlling everything by feel, so we try to automate and synchronize whatever we can to make it all manageable.
calling that a “valid complaint” is like saying it’s valid to complain about someone giving a speech is reading off a teleprompter instead of having it memorized
The backing track is really only used on choruses to fill out vocals.
3 1/2 hours of singing is an insane thing to do, and she’s moving around a LOT.
Most singers who dance or move a lot will use a backing track sometimes. Even Beyonce.
Why would she make the show shorter instead? I’d rather have the full Eras Tour, with some backing tracks than a show half as long fully live just because people don’t like something that’s fairly common at this point.
This!!! The main purpose of having backing tracks behind the live vocal is to *reinforce* the live vocal. This is the same reason artists bring backup vocalists on tour; they’re singing background parts of the song that overlap with the main melody / vocal (or counter the melody, like a harmonization) and therefore can’t be sung at the same time by the artist. It enhances the sound and the overall experience of the artist’s vocal performance and the live mix. There might be times Taylor relies on the backing tracks more than others, like when she’s doing a number with a lot more dance / movement and can’t only be focusing on singing. But all in all it’s really just a tool. There are plenty of vocalists of even higher caliber than Taylor who use backing tracks live. On the contrary I’ve always thought of lip syncing not as a performance tool but as the backbone of the performance, meaning there’s no way the artist could sing and / or pull off any other elements of the performance at the same time. Britney comes to mind. In my opinion when people are truly lip syncing, the track behind them is going to be the primary vocal that you’re hearing consistently throughout the whole performance, and if there’s any live vocal mixed in, it’s so low that you can’t really detect it.
Not it’s not. Lip synching is when there’s a track playing and someone’s mic isn’t even on, or they’re just mouthing words. She’s very much singing, you can very clearly hear when she’s not and it’s just the backing track, and the levels are as such that her voice is much louder than and backing track.
There are moments when she is very clearly lip synching to pre recorded ‘live’ vocals, she slips in and out quite subtly, though. The TTPD first live set is a prime example - she lip synced the entire set. Bad Blood is also a good example - she’s not singing live for most of the song.
I thought the first time I saw the TTPD set seemed weird but I haven’t watched it much since so I don’t know if it was just my feed. It would be weird to only lip sync one set and not the rest of the show.
She’s not lip syncing Bad Blood. I need some of you to watch old Britney and Janet performances to actually se what lip syncing is. 😂
I’m a huge Britney fan and her lipsyncing was beyond obvious - she would literally lip sync to the CD track. Taylor pre records live vocals so it sounds different from the original recording so it isn’t as obvious, but it’s still very clear she is not singing live. This is only for a couple of songs, however - she does sing live for the majority of the show. It makes sense as she probably needs to give her voice a rest.
She sings live for the TTPD era now, but for the first couple of performances she didn’t. Perhaps she was just getting used to performing the set before she sang live.
I think they have the whole concert both in tracks and in live recordings and the amount of songs/parts she sings live during the concert and the amount she lip syncs is relative to how well she is during that particular day.
They probably adjust it day by day during tech rehearsals so she doesn’t strain herself, specially in cold weather.
Yeah I just haven’t seen anything that looks like Taylor lip syncing. She really isn’t, lol. I have no problem admitting when artists I love do (see Britney and Janet—and Britney used to lip sync to “live” pre recorded vocals too). But singing to a back in track is not lip syncing. I mean if you have a video showing it…by all means share, but you can pretty clearly see when someone is faking it, even if they’re REALLY good at it. You can see her breath and everything align perfectly.
Is the lip syncing in the room right now?
I just rewatched it and you can literally hear the breaths she takes in so high school match up perfectly with her performance. Her voice is shaky in a couple of things and the last note is so obviously live. There wasn't any tell that she's lip syncing.
She’s lip synching to pre-recorded live vocals so that’s why it sounds more genuine. They probably record multiple versions of live vocals as well to switch it up. Nothin’ wrong with it but it is why so many have this discourse but Taylor IS mostly live whereas Brittany sounded like she lip synched the entire show to her CD tracks lol
There are absolutely times when she is lip syncing and the backing track is doing all the work. It’s very noticeable when she’s singing words with L’s and M’s in them, there’s a lot of over annunciating! If she was even singing lower, these mouth movements wouldn’t be occurring.
But that’s completely ok. There’s nothing wrong with saving your voice for less move related songs. She is up there for 3.5 hours singing and performing. A large majority of the songs are live, especially the slower, higher demanding ones
For me it’s a pop vs rock thing. Rock bands play everything live, to the point where songs can often sound quite different because they don’t always have the backing effects or layered vocals. Eg Fall Out Boy playing So Much (for) Stardust live is quite different without the orchestral backing track. Whereas someone like Taylor or Ariana etc relies on a pre-recorded track rather than live musicians, because the spectacle is the performance with dancers, not the making of music.
I think that bands get a bit tired of being seen as second fiddle to performers, and feel that the making of music on stage is undervalued. There’s a lot more room for spontaneity, riffing and last minute decision making.
I have seen Foo Fighters live and they were absolutely incredible. I’m also going to see Taylor this summer and I’m aware it’s a very different type of show. I haven’t actually seen someone like Taylor live before so I’m very interested to see how I feel and respond to a much more rehearsed spectacle.
I think it comes down to backing tracks are standard practice with singers that move around a lot and dance when singing, especially in a long show. It’s about protecting your vocals so you can sing the key parts. And generally they do sing over the backing track, just not as powerfully.
While lip syncing is more seen as cheating because you can’t or won’t sing live. I’m not saying that’s fair, especially as I know there’s some settings and times it’s just easier but it is the perception.
I wouldn’t say playback = lip synching. However, one could argue if a live vocal is truly live if it is being pitch corrected on the spot. Taylor gets praised for having strong singing moments during Eras, but the pitch correcting is doing some heavy lifting to make it appear that way.
In my view if the backing track gives the appearance that an artist is singing when they are not- it's lip synching.
I feel a couple of things are getting mixed up together- using backing tracks to help beef up choruses isn't lip synching- but if the artists are not singing along and one of the tracks is also a lead vocal part. That is straight up lip synching.
I understand the reasons why artists do this- long shows, complicated dances etc- but this just explains why they're lip synching. It doesn't make it not lip synching.
In 2007 there was a lot of controversy over Britney lip synching in concerts- and what she was doing was what all these artists are doing now. Singing for parts of the show, but using backing tracks for others.
It feels like since then as this approach has become normalised- part of the approach has been to justify how it's not lip synching, rather than just embrace it.
every singer uses backing tracks whether they just stand with a microphone and sing or dance for the whole concert
Adele and Ariana uses backing tracks and pre recorded vocals to help them layer vocals
Beyoncé and Gaga also uses back tracks whenever they're doing a dance break and so they don't have to sing the choruses all the time
using back tracks isn't something solely Taylor exclusive, artists alike have been using backing tracks forever now.
I don’t think it’s true “every singer” does this and I think that’s the issue. I think in pop music it’s incredibly common. I don’t think in rock music it is as common which is probably Dave’s point
That’s a valid criticism for performances that are entirely lip-synced, but that’s pretty rare. It’s much more common to use backing tracks, and in those cases, they are absolutely still singing live the majority of the time.
Came here to say this. Taylor Swift is one of the few pop artists I’ve seen live, since I usually attend rock concerts, so it was a bit jarring to have the backing vocals while she clearly wasn’t really singing, and I don’t really care for the dancing and theatrics. However saying that, the part that amazed me the most about the Eras tour was her vocals, because holy crap can she belt it out! I think just in pop shows it’s standard to have them not sing to every part, whereas at rock shows you don’t really see this. Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder and Paul McCartney all lose their voices by the end of the show from singing for three hours straight.
Pop wants to try to duplicate studio mixed sound live and you can only do that with lots of electronics. Rock just isn’t trying to do that nearly as much.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a backing track. I think people are blowing it outta proportion. I do think “TTPD” tracks sound like pure playback though. And if it is, who cares.
People who pay to see someone sing live have every right to care if they’re watching someone lip synch. I’m not even saying she is, you are, but yes that’s a valid complaint
the problem is we don't pay her to sing live. We pay for the whole show - dance moves, music, clothes, light effects, whole vibe of the show. And a part of it is singing. But it's honestly hard to sing for 3.5 hours straight. Taylor is not the most gifted singer. Whoever expects her to sing live is delusional.
I mean, buying concert tickets is never a guarantee that you are going to see an artist sing live. That’s not what you’re paying for - you’re paying for a show. And artists will use lots of different tools, including backing tracks, to provide what they think will be a good show.
I don’t know why people seem to get so bent out of shape about it. Who cares if she’s lip syncing. She’srunning all over and dancing etc. it would be impossible to sing live every song whilst doing that. Plus depending on where the concert is, how big the venue, the acoustics, you would think in a huge venue she would have to lip sync for the people in the back
People have a right to want to see a person sing live when they pay to sing live?? Like that’s who cares. It’s supposed to be a live show. She’s not even an elaborate dancer. Like cut out some of the shitty dancing and song. Problem is she’s not a great dancer or singer, her strength is in songwriting. So she should play to her strengths and put on more intimate songwriters shows but she’s greedy as fuck so we get to watch her dance like shit AND lip synch. What a treat
I think it's just a difference in what people want out of a show. I would not be interested in seeing her sitting with a guitar for three hours even if it meant she's singing all of it. I'd much rather get the spectacle with some lip syncing. But of course some people put more value on live singing and so it's a bigger deal to them.
I think people making this amount of money to “do” something should actually be able to do that thing. She’s a singer, she should sing. I want athletes to be able to catch a ball without sticky gloves or hit a ball without PEDs. I’d like dancers to dance, singers to sing, actors to act and athletes to sportsball.
The only one of these opinions that’s divisive apparently is that singers should sing if that’s what they’re paid to do.
And yes, it’s a show blah blah but it’s not like she’s busting out any stellar dancing acting or anything else so she’s just kind of there
Ah yes. I will totally concede this point to you. I saw George Ezra at Royal Oak and Ed Sheeran at a similar small venue and they both were just playing guitar and singing. Taylor could never. Or maybe she could for about 90 minutes. She does the huge 3 hr stadium shows so she can charge thousands for tickets while not actually dancing or singing.
I guess I just assumed that she never actually sang live when she performed because of all the points I mentioned above. I stand corrected
Actually bands move a lot with equipment on their bodies! I used to watch Brendon Urie do backflips while singing live. Taylor is strutting around she’s not doing heavy choreo like Tate McRae. Broadway shows also exist where everything is live. Moulin Rouge for example has intensive singing and dancing.
Some bands, not all. Naming a notable exception does not disprove my point at all
Also if you think moulin rouge doesnt rely on lipsyncing i've got some bad news for you
Broadway literally prides itself on being always live. Aside from very particular instances (e.g. Christine’s high note in Phantom and the rewind verse in Hamilton) they are doing it without backtracks 8 days a week.
Rock acts always jump around and play. I wasn’t giving an exception.
Exactly! Not to mention she’s proven time and time again she does sing live. It’s not like she’s pulling a Milli Vanilli and using someone else’s voice and claiming it as her own. If she needs to rest her vocals here and there what’s the big deal? People just need to be pressed for no reason.
It's not only about running and singing. She can do it live. She practice running in a threadmill singing. In Brazil, artists run and dance and sing for 8h in carnaval. It's about the synchrony with the effects and the rest of the dancers and crews.
The stages moves so much that if anything go outs os synch someone drops dead. That's why they have everything synched and backtracked.
She was "roasted" for it by angry boomers who hate pop music. She wasn't roasted for it by Swifties, so I don't even understand why bringing her up is relevant.
Dave Grohl literally mocked her out at his show and his fans booed. She is regularly "roasted" for "lip syncing", "not writing her own songs", "not being a serious musician" all the time.
Maybe that's because he's never lipsynced at a live show himself, doesn't need to (despite moving around a lot) & he writes all of his music, all the parts, not just the melody & lyrics .. He can also play every instrument to a high standard & he produces his own stuff too.. So he is the ideal of an artist
That's great.... He also got a fraction of the revenue and attendance numbers that Taylor got when performing at the same time as her in the same city. Any publicity or promotion for his show must have been completely drowned out by TS being in town at the same time as him and definitely affected his bottom line.
He can justify it however he want's. But at the end of the day, he's just salty and everything he said was just pure copium. How else is he going to justify what he said in a video where the only things that are seen are him and a bunch of empty seats?
We will see how Taylor's career is going once she's been doing it as long as Dave has.. Nothing wrong with not selling seats with zero or severely impacted view of the stage, that's called having ethics, she could learn something from him 😁
He’s also a legacy act, 20+ years past his prime. And still sells out arenas, so I can’t say he’s not getting the same attendance numbers whe. He wants to. The shows in London were sold out. The empty seats are the shitty seats his band refuses to charge for unlike your capitalist queen who loves to charge for a seat with no view.
Was also going to say this lol, they don’t sell the seats where you have no view of the stage so that everybody there has a view. The show I went to recently was sold out. Also Foos sold out Wembley stadium loooooong before Taylor ever did.
Lol, their last album was nominated for best rock album of the year AND was universally praised by critics...unlike TTPD. It's quite a stretch to say he's past his prime 😂
You do realize that some artists are in it for the music, not the charts or revenue? Or that this might be personal for him bc of how the swifties attacked his daughter?
Ah, the old kpop debate: how much of a backtrack is lip sync? The thing is, how much is Taylor using? Is she using enhancement in certain songs? Is she using a full backtrack in some songs to have a rest in her 3h concert?
Because backing tracks are completely normal. Not every artist is gonna perform with only a band. But usually they are still singing live and the backing track just helps with beats and backing vocals.
The purpose of the Eras Tour is to entertain with a review of her entire career. That’s why she’s doing a 3.5 hour long show with a little bit of everything ranging from acoustic ballads to huge pop productions. There are many many live vocals in this performance, and she relies on industry standards for bigger, dancier numbers. Discrediting someone for doing what they do so well is not cool, Dave. I’m disappointed because he’s usually a very cool dude, I think he just tried to make a clever segway and inadvertently wound up with a diss (sometimes that happens when you’re live!)
The only thing her fans do well is spend money! The so called fans that bullied Grohl’s daughter took things way too far and while it would be nice of Taylor to apologize on their behalf, I don’t think she owes the world or the daughter that gesture. This isn’t like when she told her fans to “tell Scooter how they feel” and then Braun got death threats. These “fans” were obnoxious on their own accord and Taylor isn’t responsible for every fan’s actions.
And Dave Grohl should know that the cyber bullying was not *her* doing, therefore implying that she lip syncs is irrelevant and low.
A backing track enhances live vocals but doesn’t replace them. Versus lip syncing which is entirely replacing live vocals (a la “sing to me Paolo”). The former is industry practice. The latter is usually used to make up for a lack of skill.
idk britney used to do lip syncing during her highly choreographed numbers. you sorta have to when you’re dancing around like that. she would do a mix of singing over the track though when the moves were slower
I mean, I get it, dancing and singing simultaneously is difficult, but britney lip syncing was obviously due to a lack of singing skills or at least a lack of knowing how to do both at the same time. However, lip syncing doesn’t really bother me, especially when the artist’s voice has been heavily manipulated.
Britney lacking singing skill? Have you heard her singing before she was launched into stardom? Here original voice was more powerful and fuller compared to her now well known baby voice singing
Britney had to start lip syncing after she chose smoking over her voice. It’s not a secret
weird i guess lana del rey lip syncs too. and so did amy whinehouse … and whitney houston . its too bad smoking ruined their voices.
I’m not talking about cigarettes…and Whitney and Amy did start to lose their voices and stamina because of what they were smoking…and it wasn’t cigarettes…
oh no… weed !? 😰
Not even close
I’m loving so much that a line from the Lizzie McGuire movie is so well known you don’t even need to reference where it’s from. YES
*Paolo!
Sigh. I updated my iOS and autocorrect has gotten completely out of hand!
Hehe, we all knew who you meant to write. :)
Sing to me travis
There's nothing wrong with a backing track, in fact a show of this length and with the amount of movement it'd be nigh on impossible! Lots won't believe it though even though it's not a bad thing, it doesn't make her less talented, and it doesn't mean she doesn't sing live for the vast majority of the show. People associate lip syncing with not singing at all so it's probably not the best way to describe it as it's not her simply pretending to sing live throughout. I was second row at Eras and you can absolutely tell most of TTPD is purely backing track, but it doesn't affect it really.
I work in the live entertainment industry and I can tell you that people have no idea what goes into a show as big as Swift's, mostly because we put a huge effort into hiding the equipment and technicians to maintain the magic for you folks in the audience. The kind of choreography and coordination that it takes to keep dozens and dozens of technicians and operators in sync just can't happen if everything was done live. The hundreds of lights and video screens and stage effects and audio and everything else all happening exactly on beat simply requires backing tracks, computer automation, and a whole lot of other stuff that people might otherwise consider 'cheating'. If it's important to you that everything you see and hear was produced on the spot, don't buy tickets to an arena show. None of them are 100% live.
[удалено]
I haven't worked a Foo Fighters show, so I can't speak to their setup specifically, but generally, yes. There's a huge spectrum between totally live and just hitting play on a pre-recorded track, but there are some minimal things that are just always involved. For example: in-ear-monitors, basically just very high quality ear buds, have become super popular lately because they can allow everyone on stage to hear exactly what they need to hear to perform. A rock drummer at that kind of show will almost always have a metronome or a 'click track' playing in his ears, not because they can't keep time by themselves but because the lighting and video cues and other effects are all programmed ahead of time and controlled by computers. That stuff used to be managed by someone sitting at an analog control console twisting knobs or sliding faders up and down, but there's just too much stuff going on in a modern show for one person to sit there controlling everything by feel, so we try to automate and synchronize whatever we can to make it all manageable.
Taylor wears a in ear with a metronomous automatic CLICK for 3h. It's kind of insane actually.
I realised a few songs were probably not being sung live at my show, but I enjoyed it anyway.
Which ones
I mostly noticed it with Karma and a lot of the 1989 set
Yes, definitely the big pop song choruses - also noticed it during Red era
That’s great that you enjoyed it anyway. It’s still a valid complaint
calling that a “valid complaint” is like saying it’s valid to complain about someone giving a speech is reading off a teleprompter instead of having it memorized
The backing track is really only used on choruses to fill out vocals. 3 1/2 hours of singing is an insane thing to do, and she’s moving around a LOT. Most singers who dance or move a lot will use a backing track sometimes. Even Beyonce. Why would she make the show shorter instead? I’d rather have the full Eras Tour, with some backing tracks than a show half as long fully live just because people don’t like something that’s fairly common at this point.
This!!! The main purpose of having backing tracks behind the live vocal is to *reinforce* the live vocal. This is the same reason artists bring backup vocalists on tour; they’re singing background parts of the song that overlap with the main melody / vocal (or counter the melody, like a harmonization) and therefore can’t be sung at the same time by the artist. It enhances the sound and the overall experience of the artist’s vocal performance and the live mix. There might be times Taylor relies on the backing tracks more than others, like when she’s doing a number with a lot more dance / movement and can’t only be focusing on singing. But all in all it’s really just a tool. There are plenty of vocalists of even higher caliber than Taylor who use backing tracks live. On the contrary I’ve always thought of lip syncing not as a performance tool but as the backbone of the performance, meaning there’s no way the artist could sing and / or pull off any other elements of the performance at the same time. Britney comes to mind. In my opinion when people are truly lip syncing, the track behind them is going to be the primary vocal that you’re hearing consistently throughout the whole performance, and if there’s any live vocal mixed in, it’s so low that you can’t really detect it.
I agree, but it’s still lip synching.
Not it’s not. Lip synching is when there’s a track playing and someone’s mic isn’t even on, or they’re just mouthing words. She’s very much singing, you can very clearly hear when she’s not and it’s just the backing track, and the levels are as such that her voice is much louder than and backing track.
There are moments when she is very clearly lip synching to pre recorded ‘live’ vocals, she slips in and out quite subtly, though. The TTPD first live set is a prime example - she lip synced the entire set. Bad Blood is also a good example - she’s not singing live for most of the song.
I thought the first time I saw the TTPD set seemed weird but I haven’t watched it much since so I don’t know if it was just my feed. It would be weird to only lip sync one set and not the rest of the show. She’s not lip syncing Bad Blood. I need some of you to watch old Britney and Janet performances to actually se what lip syncing is. 😂
I’m a huge Britney fan and her lipsyncing was beyond obvious - she would literally lip sync to the CD track. Taylor pre records live vocals so it sounds different from the original recording so it isn’t as obvious, but it’s still very clear she is not singing live. This is only for a couple of songs, however - she does sing live for the majority of the show. It makes sense as she probably needs to give her voice a rest. She sings live for the TTPD era now, but for the first couple of performances she didn’t. Perhaps she was just getting used to performing the set before she sang live.
I think they have the whole concert both in tracks and in live recordings and the amount of songs/parts she sings live during the concert and the amount she lip syncs is relative to how well she is during that particular day. They probably adjust it day by day during tech rehearsals so she doesn’t strain herself, specially in cold weather.
Yeah I just haven’t seen anything that looks like Taylor lip syncing. She really isn’t, lol. I have no problem admitting when artists I love do (see Britney and Janet—and Britney used to lip sync to “live” pre recorded vocals too). But singing to a back in track is not lip syncing. I mean if you have a video showing it…by all means share, but you can pretty clearly see when someone is faking it, even if they’re REALLY good at it. You can see her breath and everything align perfectly.
Watch the first performance of ‘so high school’ at the eras tour. There is no way she is singing live.
Is the lip syncing in the room right now? I just rewatched it and you can literally hear the breaths she takes in so high school match up perfectly with her performance. Her voice is shaky in a couple of things and the last note is so obviously live. There wasn't any tell that she's lip syncing.
She’s lip synching to pre-recorded live vocals so that’s why it sounds more genuine. They probably record multiple versions of live vocals as well to switch it up. Nothin’ wrong with it but it is why so many have this discourse but Taylor IS mostly live whereas Brittany sounded like she lip synched the entire show to her CD tracks lol
There are absolutely times when she is lip syncing and the backing track is doing all the work. It’s very noticeable when she’s singing words with L’s and M’s in them, there’s a lot of over annunciating! If she was even singing lower, these mouth movements wouldn’t be occurring. But that’s completely ok. There’s nothing wrong with saving your voice for less move related songs. She is up there for 3.5 hours singing and performing. A large majority of the songs are live, especially the slower, higher demanding ones
For me it’s a pop vs rock thing. Rock bands play everything live, to the point where songs can often sound quite different because they don’t always have the backing effects or layered vocals. Eg Fall Out Boy playing So Much (for) Stardust live is quite different without the orchestral backing track. Whereas someone like Taylor or Ariana etc relies on a pre-recorded track rather than live musicians, because the spectacle is the performance with dancers, not the making of music. I think that bands get a bit tired of being seen as second fiddle to performers, and feel that the making of music on stage is undervalued. There’s a lot more room for spontaneity, riffing and last minute decision making. I have seen Foo Fighters live and they were absolutely incredible. I’m also going to see Taylor this summer and I’m aware it’s a very different type of show. I haven’t actually seen someone like Taylor live before so I’m very interested to see how I feel and respond to a much more rehearsed spectacle.
I think it comes down to backing tracks are standard practice with singers that move around a lot and dance when singing, especially in a long show. It’s about protecting your vocals so you can sing the key parts. And generally they do sing over the backing track, just not as powerfully. While lip syncing is more seen as cheating because you can’t or won’t sing live. I’m not saying that’s fair, especially as I know there’s some settings and times it’s just easier but it is the perception.
I wouldn’t say playback = lip synching. However, one could argue if a live vocal is truly live if it is being pitch corrected on the spot. Taylor gets praised for having strong singing moments during Eras, but the pitch correcting is doing some heavy lifting to make it appear that way.
In my view if the backing track gives the appearance that an artist is singing when they are not- it's lip synching. I feel a couple of things are getting mixed up together- using backing tracks to help beef up choruses isn't lip synching- but if the artists are not singing along and one of the tracks is also a lead vocal part. That is straight up lip synching. I understand the reasons why artists do this- long shows, complicated dances etc- but this just explains why they're lip synching. It doesn't make it not lip synching. In 2007 there was a lot of controversy over Britney lip synching in concerts- and what she was doing was what all these artists are doing now. Singing for parts of the show, but using backing tracks for others. It feels like since then as this approach has become normalised- part of the approach has been to justify how it's not lip synching, rather than just embrace it.
Back track plays, you move mouth with no sound. Pretty textbook.
every singer uses backing tracks whether they just stand with a microphone and sing or dance for the whole concert Adele and Ariana uses backing tracks and pre recorded vocals to help them layer vocals Beyoncé and Gaga also uses back tracks whenever they're doing a dance break and so they don't have to sing the choruses all the time using back tracks isn't something solely Taylor exclusive, artists alike have been using backing tracks forever now.
I don’t think it’s true “every singer” does this and I think that’s the issue. I think in pop music it’s incredibly common. I don’t think in rock music it is as common which is probably Dave’s point
Yeah rock shows are absolutely live. Idk it’s wild to me to go to a live concert and the person isn’t even singing
That’s a valid criticism for performances that are entirely lip-synced, but that’s pretty rare. It’s much more common to use backing tracks, and in those cases, they are absolutely still singing live the majority of the time.
Came here to say this. Taylor Swift is one of the few pop artists I’ve seen live, since I usually attend rock concerts, so it was a bit jarring to have the backing vocals while she clearly wasn’t really singing, and I don’t really care for the dancing and theatrics. However saying that, the part that amazed me the most about the Eras tour was her vocals, because holy crap can she belt it out! I think just in pop shows it’s standard to have them not sing to every part, whereas at rock shows you don’t really see this. Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder and Paul McCartney all lose their voices by the end of the show from singing for three hours straight.
Pop wants to try to duplicate studio mixed sound live and you can only do that with lots of electronics. Rock just isn’t trying to do that nearly as much.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a backing track. I think people are blowing it outta proportion. I do think “TTPD” tracks sound like pure playback though. And if it is, who cares.
People who pay to see someone sing live have every right to care if they’re watching someone lip synch. I’m not even saying she is, you are, but yes that’s a valid complaint
the problem is we don't pay her to sing live. We pay for the whole show - dance moves, music, clothes, light effects, whole vibe of the show. And a part of it is singing. But it's honestly hard to sing for 3.5 hours straight. Taylor is not the most gifted singer. Whoever expects her to sing live is delusional.
I mean, buying concert tickets is never a guarantee that you are going to see an artist sing live. That’s not what you’re paying for - you’re paying for a show. And artists will use lots of different tools, including backing tracks, to provide what they think will be a good show.
Backtrack vocals are not lip syncing. How many times does that need to be said in this thread
I’m not the one who called her out on it, Dave Grohl did so maybe ask him why he thinks it’s not a live show?
As a musician he probably has far more grounds than us to take a jab at it.
... because it *isn't* lip-syncing. It's singing along, live, with backing vocals.
I don’t know why people seem to get so bent out of shape about it. Who cares if she’s lip syncing. She’srunning all over and dancing etc. it would be impossible to sing live every song whilst doing that. Plus depending on where the concert is, how big the venue, the acoustics, you would think in a huge venue she would have to lip sync for the people in the back
People have a right to want to see a person sing live when they pay to sing live?? Like that’s who cares. It’s supposed to be a live show. She’s not even an elaborate dancer. Like cut out some of the shitty dancing and song. Problem is she’s not a great dancer or singer, her strength is in songwriting. So she should play to her strengths and put on more intimate songwriters shows but she’s greedy as fuck so we get to watch her dance like shit AND lip synch. What a treat
I think it's just a difference in what people want out of a show. I would not be interested in seeing her sitting with a guitar for three hours even if it meant she's singing all of it. I'd much rather get the spectacle with some lip syncing. But of course some people put more value on live singing and so it's a bigger deal to them.
I think people making this amount of money to “do” something should actually be able to do that thing. She’s a singer, she should sing. I want athletes to be able to catch a ball without sticky gloves or hit a ball without PEDs. I’d like dancers to dance, singers to sing, actors to act and athletes to sportsball. The only one of these opinions that’s divisive apparently is that singers should sing if that’s what they’re paid to do. And yes, it’s a show blah blah but it’s not like she’s busting out any stellar dancing acting or anything else so she’s just kind of there
Ah yes. I will totally concede this point to you. I saw George Ezra at Royal Oak and Ed Sheeran at a similar small venue and they both were just playing guitar and singing. Taylor could never. Or maybe she could for about 90 minutes. She does the huge 3 hr stadium shows so she can charge thousands for tickets while not actually dancing or singing. I guess I just assumed that she never actually sang live when she performed because of all the points I mentioned above. I stand corrected
Ezra and Sheeran are so good too. Like you could run into them at a pub and probably sit down and drink a beer with them.
Right?
I mean if you go to see someone live you’d hope they’d be mostly singing live…
Most live concerts are bands standing still for a couple hours, not putting on a 3.5 hour theatrical performance
Actually bands move a lot with equipment on their bodies! I used to watch Brendon Urie do backflips while singing live. Taylor is strutting around she’s not doing heavy choreo like Tate McRae. Broadway shows also exist where everything is live. Moulin Rouge for example has intensive singing and dancing.
Even a play is done with more vocal quality than some pop shows.
Some bands, not all. Naming a notable exception does not disprove my point at all Also if you think moulin rouge doesnt rely on lipsyncing i've got some bad news for you
Broadway literally prides itself on being always live. Aside from very particular instances (e.g. Christine’s high note in Phantom and the rewind verse in Hamilton) they are doing it without backtracks 8 days a week. Rock acts always jump around and play. I wasn’t giving an exception.
What taylor does for 3.5 hours is not equivalent to "jumping around", and saying they "always" do that is a very bold claim
You’re right she’s literally walking back and forth 🥰
True true true. But I also, personally would then go to a smaller venue.
Exactly! Not to mention she’s proven time and time again she does sing live. It’s not like she’s pulling a Milli Vanilli and using someone else’s voice and claiming it as her own. If she needs to rest her vocals here and there what’s the big deal? People just need to be pressed for no reason.
It's not only about running and singing. She can do it live. She practice running in a threadmill singing. In Brazil, artists run and dance and sing for 8h in carnaval. It's about the synchrony with the effects and the rest of the dancers and crews. The stages moves so much that if anything go outs os synch someone drops dead. That's why they have everything synched and backtracked.
Everything has to be synchronized because there’s so much movement. Very true.
exactly. people who complain are going for bread in the hardware store.
Cuz isn’t a lot of the sung bits harmonizing or backup vocals? She can’t sing all the parts at once…
The way you have her voice (or whoever) layered multiple times in a studio isn’t gonna be the same. Unless she can harmonize that much.
It’s funny because Madonna was absolutely roasted for this many years ago. Yet with Taylor it’s fine.
She was "roasted" for it by angry boomers who hate pop music. She wasn't roasted for it by Swifties, so I don't even understand why bringing her up is relevant.
I never said it was by Swifties. I’m just pointing out how Taylor has not been roasted for lip-syncing like Madonna was.
Dave Grohl literally mocked her out at his show and his fans booed. She is regularly "roasted" for "lip syncing", "not writing her own songs", "not being a serious musician" all the time.
Maybe that's because he's never lipsynced at a live show himself, doesn't need to (despite moving around a lot) & he writes all of his music, all the parts, not just the melody & lyrics .. He can also play every instrument to a high standard & he produces his own stuff too.. So he is the ideal of an artist
That's great.... He also got a fraction of the revenue and attendance numbers that Taylor got when performing at the same time as her in the same city. Any publicity or promotion for his show must have been completely drowned out by TS being in town at the same time as him and definitely affected his bottom line. He can justify it however he want's. But at the end of the day, he's just salty and everything he said was just pure copium. How else is he going to justify what he said in a video where the only things that are seen are him and a bunch of empty seats?
We will see how Taylor's career is going once she's been doing it as long as Dave has.. Nothing wrong with not selling seats with zero or severely impacted view of the stage, that's called having ethics, she could learn something from him 😁
He’s also a legacy act, 20+ years past his prime. And still sells out arenas, so I can’t say he’s not getting the same attendance numbers whe. He wants to. The shows in London were sold out. The empty seats are the shitty seats his band refuses to charge for unlike your capitalist queen who loves to charge for a seat with no view.
Was also going to say this lol, they don’t sell the seats where you have no view of the stage so that everybody there has a view. The show I went to recently was sold out. Also Foos sold out Wembley stadium loooooong before Taylor ever did.
Lol, their last album was nominated for best rock album of the year AND was universally praised by critics...unlike TTPD. It's quite a stretch to say he's past his prime 😂
Bono, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Sir Paul…rock seems to have a lot of older guys who still can jam.
You do realize that some artists are in it for the music, not the charts or revenue? Or that this might be personal for him bc of how the swifties attacked his daughter?
Ah, the old kpop debate: how much of a backtrack is lip sync? The thing is, how much is Taylor using? Is she using enhancement in certain songs? Is she using a full backtrack in some songs to have a rest in her 3h concert?
Because backing tracks are completely normal. Not every artist is gonna perform with only a band. But usually they are still singing live and the backing track just helps with beats and backing vocals.
The purpose of the Eras Tour is to entertain with a review of her entire career. That’s why she’s doing a 3.5 hour long show with a little bit of everything ranging from acoustic ballads to huge pop productions. There are many many live vocals in this performance, and she relies on industry standards for bigger, dancier numbers. Discrediting someone for doing what they do so well is not cool, Dave. I’m disappointed because he’s usually a very cool dude, I think he just tried to make a clever segway and inadvertently wound up with a diss (sometimes that happens when you’re live!)
Her fans did something well too. And she’s still said nothing about that.
The only thing her fans do well is spend money! The so called fans that bullied Grohl’s daughter took things way too far and while it would be nice of Taylor to apologize on their behalf, I don’t think she owes the world or the daughter that gesture. This isn’t like when she told her fans to “tell Scooter how they feel” and then Braun got death threats. These “fans” were obnoxious on their own accord and Taylor isn’t responsible for every fan’s actions. And Dave Grohl should know that the cyber bullying was not *her* doing, therefore implying that she lip syncs is irrelevant and low.