Off Topic Compare the cheese to no 10 thread

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Milk has gone sour said:
She is frequently off-key. Pay attention to her next time she comes on the radio. Way more so than many of her contemporaries.

Before mass editing there was more cases of singers off key. (even Sinatra was off key on occasion on some of his older recorded songs). But...

Joni Mitchell is off key on more notes than any other singer I've heard on the radio. I've got better pitch than her and I'm not a musician (or of any special musical talent).
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Sinatra was hopelessly flat on most of his songs. At the beginning of each phrase he'd start off in the general vicinity of the correct note and slide around until he (sort of) got it. He and others like him fell into the "so bad they're good" category.
Doesn't do it for me though.

We'll just have to disagree on Joni. Like I said, music preferences are personal.

Just out of interest, I can sing reasonably well. Not much of a range, dynamic or melodic, but I can certainly hear and hold a note.
 
Milk has gone sour said:
Popularity and talent are two different things.

Think of the sign "Keep Calm and Carry On". Is that an artistic masterpiece? No, but it is very popular.

Vocally she had very limited range over which she has good control. Compared with most published musicians she does have less talent. Most can stay on key for example.
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She's also well thought of by music critics. <ok>

Think you're talking with it out on the last sentence, tbh. Most musicians of the last 3 decades have had all manner of processing on their voices or instruments to put then on the note and on the beat. Quantisers and AutoTune are automatically used these days, which is why so much of it is too perfect and soulless.
 
Milk has gone sour said:
I listen to very little music from last 3 decades. Most of what I listen to is older stuff. I'm comparing her to her contemporaries.
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If you ever see any of those "classic song" programmes where they analyse recordings it shows up some interesting things. When they fade out the other tracks to leave the vocals, so many very famous singers sound horribly out of tune. It's only when they're dropped into the mix you don't hear it. For solo singers with a minimal backing discrepancies are probably more audible.
anyway, small, acceptable variations in pitch or timing are what makes music "real"- it is, after all, what we hear live. It gives feeling and expression that gets lost if too much post production is applied.

As I said, we'll just have to disagree over this. Mitchell's style- with the constant sliding up and down the scales doesn't appeal to everyone- but her pitch sounds pretty good to me. Or should I say sounded, as I haven't really listened since the bitch ex and I parted.
 
saintKlopp said:
Music preference is personal and I wouldn't criticise anyone for not liking Joni Mitchell. I'm not a huge fan myself, though an ex-girlfriend that I used to sing with was. Her vocal style is individual and not to everyone's liking.
However, to dismiss her as "talentless" is plain stupid. She's written many often covered songs and won a handful of grammy awards.
Styles cover folk, pop, jazz, rock and electronica and she's collaborated with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Charlie Mingus, Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel, Billy Idol and Roger Waters.
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were both big fans of hers. Rolling Stone magazine had her as the top ranking female guitarist at one point (don't know if that's still true) and one of the most influential musicians ever.

And anyone who thinks she was off-key really needs their ears testing. Though I suppose when you've had your ears scorched by years of over-produced crap by singers who couldn't manage without Auto-Tune, it's difficult to recognise someone who can put across a song with a guitar and a natural voice only.
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She's in the top ten song writers of all time. Highest placed female artist.
 
Milk has gone sour said:
She is frequently off-key. Pay attention to her next time she comes on the radio. Way more so than many of her contemporaries.

Before mass editing there was more cases of singers off key. (even Sinatra was off key on occasion on some of his older recorded songs). But...

Joni Mitchell is off key on more notes than any other singer I've heard on the radio. I've got better pitch than her and I'm not a musician (or of any special musical talent).
Click to expand...

I rest my case, your honour <ok>
 
A Lovely Story From The Cheese.

As you know, my youngest was in there with me on Tuesday night. You also know she put 5 records on the jukie, one of them being Steely Dan. The tune in question was 'Home At Last', which is basically a paraphrase of Homer's Odyssey. That was one of the presents I bought her for her 21st last September. I asked her if she'd started reading it yet and she said she'd read a little. However she's in the final year of her English Lit degree, so has a lot of other stuff to get through. She said she couldn't wait to get back into it. She told me that she'd never forget me reading the children's version to her at bedtime before she went to sleep when she was about 5. That's the main memory that guided her to taking a degree in English. I felt humble and proud at the same time. I may indeed be a ****, but I got those two right.
 
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Red Hadron Collider said:
A Lovely Story From The Cheese.

As you know, my youngest was in there with me on Tuesday night. You also know she put 5 records on the jukie, one of them being Steely Dan. The tune in question was 'Home At Last', which is basically a paraphrase of Homer's Odyssey. That was one of the presents I bought her for her 21st last September. I asked her if she'd started reading it yet and she said she'd read a little. However she's in the final year of her English Lit degree, so has a lot of other stuff to get through. She said she couldn't wait to get back into it. She told me that she'd never forget me reading the children's version to her at bedtime before she went to sleep when she was about 5. That's the main memory that guided her to taking a degree in English. I felt humble and proud at the same time. I may indeed be a ****, but I got those two right.
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Are you sure they are yours?
 
Red Hadron Collider said:
She's in the top ten song writers of all time. Highest placed female artist.
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I think Carole King is better myself- but like I said, it's personal preference.
It's not the sort of music I listen to a lot, but not to recognise obvious talent is either stupid or deliberately obtuse.
 
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