Excellent in most ways, and yet my best attempt at explaining my misgivings is to say that these Martians apparently understand our music theory, but have not mastered what we Earthlings call ‘emotions.’
I’m not really qualified to discern mastery, but I do spend a lot of time listening to versions of the very tunes represented here, and this is just wrong in an eerie way that I don’t know how to describe. Near as I can tell, it’s Doo-Wop for Pod People.
But if there’s an explanation within the art that explains what’s going wrong0 I’m interested to know. The actual production of tones seems to be spot-on, but the effect is robotic. Is there a way to describe this in the language of the musical arts?
The acoustics are very strange, and they let the pitch drop a lot, but do so while staying in tune with each other.
But you seem to more interested in the fact that are not getting the “feel” of the songs. They are rushing, and are being very strict to the beat, rather than allowing a bit of swing or shuffle. And I don’t think I heard a single bit of ornamentation that is quite typical for barbershop work.
Finally, have you heard these songs by women before? Female harmony, since they lack anything in the bass-baritone register, can sound etherial and thus alien. Barbershop is a traditionally male endeavor, and thus that register adds a lot to the “feel.”
It’s robotic because there’s no energy or emotion whatsoever, either in their voices or their bodies/faces. They’re like a foursome of female Datas singing. Technically the voices are pretty enough and accurate (for the most part – pitch isn’t 100% perfect) but my God, they’ve drained the life out of the music. They ain’t got no soul! And it renders the music little better than a bunch of harmonized notes.
Actually, on the last two songs, the other three are overwhelming the girl who is second from the right (Rachel, I believe). They either need to back off, or Rachel needs to learn to sing more forcefully.
I’m encouraged that young kids like this want to explore harmony and this repertoire in particular. They seem to have a good sense of harmony, but I agree that they need to loosen up a little and give it a little more swing.
And this stuff is made to inspire body movement. That, as opposed to standing nearly stock-still, would benefit them in several ways.
Agreed with everything posted. I’d also add that this group would be benefited by an additional member in the lower range. That would add depth to their harmony.
Their voices are great, and they’re technically also pretty good.
I used to have a Commodore 64. I had a program called the SID Editor, which basically did for the C64 what MIDI does for PCs…it takes a code that says what note to play and how to make it sound and runs it through the sound chip. I had probably hundreds of songs that I plunked in one note at a time with the editor. They were technically perfect. But they were obviously computer music.
The left and right singer aren’t hitting the pitches solidly. Since the left singer is singing the bass parts, she has to be really solid. They tend to waver a bit off pitch before getting to the right one. It makes the songs sound off. The two girls in the middle are a little bit more on pitch.
The lead singer is ever slightly flat, especially when she’s ornamenting. I think that turns it for me. There’s also something creepy about her expression.
Exactly. They need to replace the flat lead singer and they need to appear as if they are enjoying themselves. It looks like they are being forced to sing at gunpoint.
For me, that’s technically the biggest problem. They just sound completely “mixed” wrong, and you’re hearing way too much harmony. And their pitch wavers a bit (I hear harmonies not only going flat, but occasionally sharp, too.) And there’s the whole lack of emotion, really feeling the music, going on. I could forgive the technical imperfections if there was a little more heart in the music.
They’re good, but not exactly all female. Here’s a Sweet Adelines quartet that does it pretty well.
The OP’s quartet are pretty good for as young as they are, but they’re singing in a stairwell or something, and there are definitely some flat notes coming from the lead.
I think that’s what I was hearing. It’s obvious to me now. I’m actually more used to choirs dropping and everyone staying in tune, rather than it pretty much staying where it was. (in which it starts off flat.)