Vote: Police Backing Vocals Live

[cpriddims]

Ok kids...

Let's solve this one for the boys once and for all.

VOTE NOW!

[Kim]

It's easy - less is more.

[cpriddims]

Keep on votin' yall!

STEW, STING, & ANDY..

ARE YOU WATCHING THIS THREAD?

[georgygirl]

I vote to:

"Don't Care!" Happy with whatever.

The basic thing for me is that The Police is back and they really will rocks the World

[STEWART]

Two problems with Andy and me:
1. We suck.
2. The places where I need to sing are the big choruses - which is where I need to blaze on the drums.

[Three over Four]

I voted for #1, but I could do #2....my big thing is that I just want to see the 3 of you guys on stage without any additions, be it musicians or BG vocalists.

[Voolou]

As a muso myself i would prefer backing singers to let Stew and Andy concentrate on what they do best. Samples just makes it sound a bit fake to me. Especially when my muso friends hear the samples they're like "er so what else are they faking?" and I'm like " Nothing you idiots" lol . In our world authenticity is everything.

[Wait and See]

[quote="STEWART"]Two problems with Andy and me:
1. We suck.
2. The places where I need to sing are the big choruses - which is where I need to blaze on the drums.[/quote]

Hey man...honor to "post to you". You're the best rock drummer ever, period. It's not even debatable. The Police are the Beatles of Generation X.

I guess the thing for me with the samples is a question I don't know the answer to-- does it require you playing to a click track? If it does, I've gotta say...I think it would be a mistake. The idea of tying Stewart Copeland down to a metronome is insane. It would be a musical atrocity. I guess maybe you did that to an extent on the Syncronicity tour, but still...you've got to be able to cut loose, and get organically into whatever groove you guys are feeling that night. To me, that's as big a part of what makes you guys great as the songs are.

Just my 2 cents...

[Mrs. Gradenko]

>Two problems with Andy and me:
1. We suck.
2. The places where I need to sing are the big choruses - which is where I need to blaze on the drums.

So if you did "samples", it would still be you two singing it.... but you could focus more on playing? No matter what you think... we still want you two to sing.

How did they do it back in the early days?

[New Zealand Promoter]

[quote="STEWART"]Two problems with Andy and me:
1. We suck.
2. The places where I need to sing are the big choruses - which is where I need to blaze on the drums.[/quote]

stewart, the fact that you and andy always had 'interesting' backing vocals is what completed the live police package. it lent a nice 'natural', 'off kilter' element to an already impossibly tight ship.

seriously, using pre-recorded backing vocals is like applying polish and sheen to something which doesn't need it - would you re-finish andy's guitar? hell no! would you go back and fix those little mistakes and accidentals on the live police album? hell no!

stay natural and stay raw, copeland! and we love that your backing vocals are all over the place!

"i feel lo-lo-lo, lo-lo-lo, lo-lo-lo...."

[sun]

[quote="STEWART"]Two problems with Andy and me:
1. We suck.[/quote] *lol*

Last summer I saw Sting performing Police material with his band and it seemed to work well with just the guys onstage. But they had Abe... maybe gaining some weight would be the solution?

Seriously I would prefer if you could keep the tour sound similar to the rehearsal show. This was the most amazing thing I have heard/seen on a rock stage for many years. Who cares for backing vocals if three of the best musicians ever play together after this long period of time?

[Wait and See]

[quote="Mrs. Gradenko"]So if you did "samples", it would still be you two singing it.... but you could focus more on playing? No matter what you think... we still want you two to sing.[/quote]

A sample is a pre-recorded sound clip that can be triggered with any kind of MIDI device. I think what they're talking about doing (what I think they did for the Grammys) is sampling out the background vocals from the original recordings and using them live. Part of what makes it kind of stick out though, is that Sting overdubbed a lot of his own BG vox on the records... so you have two "Stings" singing at the same time. I think there's probably a way to make it work OK if they massage the mix to keep it from standing out and continue to sing over it live as much as possible. Another option is maybe Andy and Stew could record their BG vox now in the present and use those clips instead of the ones from the records.

Still, the key to me is what I said above. I haven't worked with long segments of sampled vocals before, but I think the only way for it to work is to stick to a click track...meaning the tempo of the song will remain perfectly constant. Their ability to drive it faster, or ebb and flow, is gone. Maybe you can do it differently, I don't know.

I think they ought to just bring in a vocal coach, get really tuned up and do it themselves. Use plenty of echo or other effects if you need it, but sing for real...and play the crap out of the songs at Mach 10. You don't have to blow them away with your singing if you can blow them away with your musicianship.

[Paolo]

[quote="STEWART"]Two problems with Andy and me:
1. We suck.
2. The places where I need to sing are the big choruses - which is where I need to blaze on the drums.[/quote]

Point one, I think, is not an issue to any of The Police fans. Personally, when I listen to your live performances and it's just you and Andy singing the backing vocals, that's my favourite "Police live" sound. Of course I do realize it's not Frank Sinatra and Nat "King" Cole helping out there, but hey, that's the sound for me!

Point two can be an issue, I agree. That's why I voted either just Andy and you or you guys plus samples. Don't know if it's possible technically, but I'd love to hear specific samples for the live situation, not taken from the original records. So, that would be Andy and you again, but sampled

Although it could be pleasant for most of the male audience , I'm not for the doo-whop babes, specially if the band's intentions are to get back to how you started.

Wow, I never thought I'd post on the same board with one my "music heroes"... This is just great!!

[Wait and See]

[quote="Paolo"]Although it could be pleasant for most of the male audience , I'm not for the doo-whop babes, specially if the band's intentions are to get back to how you started.[/quote]

I agree...although there's nothing wrong with a little "eye candy", if they went the route of live backup, it ought to be a guy, maybe a keyboard player, who can do a Sting impression. Playing as a three piece and toughing it out on the vocals worked for them pretty well before, though. That's what gets my vote.

[Hannaha]

[quote="STEWART"]Two problems with Andy and me:
1. We suck.
2. The places where I need to sing are the big choruses - which is where I need to blaze on the drums.[/quote]

So, how about samples of Stew and Andy instead of samples of Sting maybe? It might give a more 'authentic' live sound than multi-layered Stingo samples.