Why you shouldn't use backing tracks (Van Halen)

jimi_t

Oh deary deary me....

So what happens when you’re Van Halen, the last song in your set list is the million-seller “Jump” with its synthesizer-keyboard opening…and the recording you’re using to play back the synth is accidentally run at 48K instead of 44.1K?

What happens is exactly this (recorded in Greensboro, NC four days ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjx_GjyXCs4

(Originally from createdigitalmusic.com)

Karl Hungus

Oh dead...

jimi_t

RW370 Blog wrote:

I can’t tell which is funnier, this long-hated cheesebag-anthem turned into a much more interesting, atonal mess in front of thousands of paying customers or the hilarious soldiering on of the Van Halens as they look at each other from inside the trainwreck. Eddie tries to transpose on the fly and match the wildly ****ed up keyboards but the great thing there is the difference in pitch is non-musical - about 1.5 semitones sharp. So there’s no frets he can choose to fix the problem!

I love the fact that David Lee Roth more or less managed to match the pitch shift in the backing track, but the two guitarists KEPT ON PLAYING rather than try a retune.

Dord

jimi_t wrote: »

I love the fact that David Lee Roth more or less managed to match the pitch shift in the backing track, but the two guitarists KEPT ON PLAYING rather than try a retune.

Yeah, they could easily have just changed the key they were playing in. Well Eddie might have been able to, I don't know about Wolfgang. :rolleyes:

jimi_t

Joe Robot wrote: »

Yeah, they could easily have just changed the key they were playing in. Well Eddie might have been able to, I don't know about Wolfgang. :rolleyes:

Nope, they couldn't have - the pitch shift was one and a half semitones - they were a quatertone off the whole time; i.e. they would have either needed to very precisely bend every note, or very precisely keep an elbow on the trem. Basically they should have stopped about 10 seconds in and retuned, but they soldiered on - still throwing shapes around the stage I might add.

Dord

jimi_t wrote: »

Nope, they couldn't have - the pitch shift was one and a half semitones - they were a quatertone off the whole time; i.e. they would have either needed to very precisely bend every note, or very precisely keep an elbow on the trem. Basically they should have stopped about 10 seconds in and retuned, but they soldiered on - still throwing shapes around the stage I might add.

hmm I guess. They should have just stopped that song immediately and gone straight into another one. Then gone back to Jump when they had it sorted.

Johnny Storm

jimi_t wrote: »

... David Lee Roth ....

He was good in that Sopranos episode

Keyzer

My god... That sounds awful....

Why didn't they stop and fix it?

leninbenjamin

these guys are professional musicians? they should never play another gig after a cock up like that. have they not an ear to hear how bad they were playing? they could at least TRY to compensate for that quarter tone, it's a lot easier to do it on guitar than other instruments... or even just tune as they go... bizarre...

Paligulus

Van Halen are back? Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!

Paligulus

Just watched that - God that was terrible!!!

I think Roth's expertly executed Microphone stand twirling covered up any mistakes music wise!!!!!

Giblet

Yeah Roth kicked ass with that stick.

cornbb

Yikes, that was hilariously painful to listen to

mike65

Whoops! Bloody Soundblaster Live processing!

Where's Dave hair! :eek:

Mike.

-=al=-

yah i seen that video before the report was about the keyboards, everyone thought the guitar was outa tune isntead of the keyboard...

the semitone thing was the problem for transposing onto guitar easily

DublinWriter

Oh jebus.

Only Dave Lee Roth dry-humping an giant inflatable comedy microphone could have saved the day.

Baggio

laughing my head off here ughhhhhhh what was that!!!...even a woeful bad xfactor wouldnt take em!! hahahahhahahah

terrible, terrible. woeful...ughhh excuse me while i collapse from laughing and embarresment!!

ciao' my mocking amigos....Baggio..................

damonjewel

Brilliant, reminds me of channel 4 mock metal band Bad News

demanufactured

Jaysus , that was rough , you'd think they would have stopped , laughed about it and gone onto another tune.

BostonB

Ouch thats painful.

Rustar

....or just had a guest musician play keys for that song.....