Question about pre-recorded tracks

[zamedy]

Posted: 3/29/09 at 2:13pm

Just interested in finding out more about the use of pre-recorded vocal tracks on Broadway. How widely are they used? Is it something that legally, a show must disclose somewhere in the Playbill? Is it a practice that some in the industry look down upon?

And... how do they work? Does someone literally press a button at the start of a song and hopefully it will be on beat with the live orchestrations? "You Can't Stop the Beat" from HAIRSPRAY comes to mind. I remember someone on this board saying they used pre-recorded vocals for that song (for the chorus) because of the demands of the dancing. If you listen to some early versions of the song (summer '02) on "that" site, you can tell there were NO pre-recorded vocals. But in later versions, the chorus parts are MUCH stronger, suggesting there are. Were they added during the run of that show?

Sorry for rambling. This is something I've always wondered about. Thanks!
Updated On: 3/29/09 at 02:13 PM

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/29/09 at 3:00pm

It's a well-known secret that Phantom uses it for Christine's vocal run during the title song...and yes that's basically what they do. The other worry is that they get the correct persons vocals, I've heard stories about some Christine's lip-syncing to someone else.

[TimeSquare3]

Posted: 3/29/09 at 3:05pm

The entire section between the mirror and coming out in the boat is prerecorded with their understudys walking on the bridge.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/29/09 at 3:12pm

MAMMA MIA! uses backing tracks for the choruses to enhance the ABBA sound to the vocals being performed 'live' on stage.

Back in 1968, the Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical PROMISES, PROMISES recreated that Bacharach/David studio sound by having 3 female vocalists in the orchestra pit ("pit" singers) help give the songs performed on stage that Bacharach/David flavor.

[winston89]

Posted: 3/29/09 at 4:33pm

Fosse, your incorrect about Mamma Mia. They have people singing below the stage. However, that does make it sound like it is pre recorded but it's not.

Also, correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that Equity is okay with any sort of pre recorded vocals (singing or acting) but they are strict about how they have to be the vocals of the actor or actress that is onstage. They can't have just a generic set of pre recorded vocals.

An example other then Phantom is Wicked. After As Long As Your Mine when Elphaba hears Nessarose screaming that part is pre recorded. But, it has to be the voice of whoever is playing Nessa at that performance. They couldn't use the leads voice when the understudy is on.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/29/09 at 4:38pm

The Wizard's vocals in the opening number of Wicked ("have another drink....") are pre-recorded. If you sit in the lotto seats, you can watch the conductor press a button next to his podium labeled "WIZARD" just before those vocals begin.

[TimeSquare3]

Posted: 3/29/09 at 4:39pm

The scream during the melt is also prerecorded.

[zamedy]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 12:38am

All very interesting. Thanks everyone!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 12:47am

http://www.phantomoftheopera.com/modules/article/view.article.php/c7/17

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 1:23am

on a similar note certain things in legally blonde were NOT pre-recorded including the "Celtic Moods" song that accompanies Paulette singing "Ireland"

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 1:39am

Some things in Legally Blonde should have seen pre-recorded. Like Elle's last note in "So Much Better".

[roadmixer]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 1:15pm

Any use of prerecorded vocals or dialogue must be approved by Equity and the rule of thumb is that if the part in question can be sung live, it must be. Typically, prerecorded bits may be used for certain 'theatre magic' moments as in Phantom as someone mentioned here or in cases where the cast is being asked to move scenery or do intense choreography and could not sing as clearly as would be liked.

[shpants]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 1:20pm

"The Wizard's vocals in the opening number of Wicked ("have another drink....") are pre-recorded."

Really?
Does anyone know the reasoning behind this? I can understand why the melting scream would be pre-recorded, but have no ideas about this.
Thanks!

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 1:41pm

my guess is it allows for the actor playing the Wizard to get to the theater later (he doesn't make his entrance until almost the end of act one after all)

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 3:17pm

xanadu used them for exact two lines. while everybody was coming up the elevator during "i'm alive." Just the beginning "and a day" and "feel this way." that was to enrich the sound because just three actors were on stage and the others were getting in place on the lift and not singing full voice, etc. they used the same recorded vocals the entire run.

[winston89]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 11:42pm

The wizard uses pre recorded vocals because it helps you connect the dots to him being Elphaba's father when they play the same bit at the end of the show. Also, they don't use the regular actor playing the wizard because during that part of the show he is supposed to be younger.

[FlyingMonkey1223]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 4:18am

I was under the impression, in the case of The Wizard in Wicked, that the actor has to be at the theatre at the same time as everyone else (730 for an 8 performance) regardless if he doesn't go on until almost the end of the first act.
Updated On: 3/31/09 at 04:18 AM

[Clark_MD]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 6:17am

"And... how do they work? Does someone literally press a button at the start of a song and hopefully it will be on beat with the live orchestrations? "

Practically every show in London has a click track....in answer to the above question - a clicking sound is played on every beat of the bars of the song through all different time signatures etc....The music is then recorded with the click in a studio and processed.

During a performance the MD (and sometimes drummers) wears a set of headphones which the click is played through but the click does not go through the main sound system of the theatre - the MD then conducts the live orchestra to the beat of the click hense why the vocals always lines up....not a case of pressing a button and hoping it lines up lol!

I have seen shows tho when the click track has gone horribly wrong and they've had to stop the pre recorded stuff as it was so out of time!

Unless the whole song is recorded (like buenos aires in the recent revival and tour of Evita in the UK) the click track can start at any point in the song - so the "have another drink" line in wicked is started literally 3 bars before the line is heard and as a poster said - its marked on the MD scores when to start the click track and all he does is press a little red button!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 6:43am

The wizard uses pre recorded vocals because it helps you connect the dots to him being Elphaba's father when they play the same bit at the end of the show. Also, they don't use the regular actor playing the wizard because during that part of the show he is supposed to be younger.

The actor onstage in that bit is not the Wizard, of course. It's the actor playing Chistery. However, the Wizard could easily sing that line from offstage. He does not, for whatever reason. I don't see how pre-recording the track, as opposed to having it done live from offstage, helps the audience connect the dots any better or worse.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 8:49am

Actually it's the guy playing Fiyero.

[morosco]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 9:02am

For what it's worth:

(regarding Billy Elliott) For ?Solidarity,? the use of mics is actually impossible because the choreography is based around miners and police swapping helmets over and over again. In London, some of the vocals are recorded, with the tracks created in the theatre using the wireless mics to match the sounds of the live voices. ?Incidentally,? Arditti points out,?in the US, Actor's Equity will not permit the recording of vocals on the grounds of ?vigorous choreography.? So if you come and see Billy Elliot The Musical in New York, you will see the extremely vigorous finale danced by the entire company and climaxing in the singing of a final chorus of ?Shine? and ?Expressing Yourself.? It's all live. Suffice to say that, in London and Australia, where there are no such Equity rules, we have chosen to record these vocals!?
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[LadyDramaturg2]

Posted: 4/5/09 at 11:56pm

...However, the Wizard could easily sing that line from offstage. He does not, for whatever reason.

Most likely because logistically, having a live mike offstage at that moment is more problematic than using a track.

[Tag]

Posted: 4/6/09 at 12:07am

How would having a mic backstage be more problematic then using something prerecorded? It is just as simple to play a recording as turning up an actor's mic when he's backstage.

[heo1128]

Posted: 4/6/09 at 1:46am

Actually, the actor playing the young wizard in the opening is just an ensemble member (or at least it was in Chicago). It's definitely not Fiyero, because Fiyero is actually in a 'mob' costume with the rest of the ensemble for the opening number.

[provocation]

Posted: 4/6/09 at 3:53am

In L.A.'s cast of Wicked, it sounded exactly like whoever was playing The Wizard that night. It must be pre-recorded. Either that, or he was there. It sounds like it's being sung off-stage, anyways.