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The Spice Girls' reunion tour announcement is set for tomorrow, and already there's speculation about the high-tech solutions to the problem that their voices might not be up to Spiceworld-era snuff:
So Ginger, Scary, Sporty, Baby and Posh are going into the studio to pre-record the songs for their tour - in order to mask the failings of their own live voices.
On stage, they will employ a new hi-tech system which will present those digitally-enhanced recordings as their own voices.
On stage, they will employ a new hi-tech system which will present those digitally-enhanced recordings as their own voices.
It works by taking the singer's live voice on stage and electronically comparing it to the perfect vocal sounds that have already been recorded in the studio.
When the girls sing out of tune on stage, the mistakes in their voices are instantaneously corrected - in less than a tenth of a second - by computer to perfect the pitch and tone. And it is this remastered "virtual voice" which belts out across the arena. The girls' vocals are altered so quickly that it will appear the resulting perfect voices are live and their own.
The system is not miming as such, because they are not just mouthing music to a backing track.
But the voices of Ginger (Geri Halliwell), Scary (Melanie Brown), Sporty (Melanie Chisholm), Baby (Emma Bunton) and Posh (Victoria Beckham) are actually changed to make them better.
"As they sing, the computer program corrects the mistakes so that the sound comes out as the desired sound - so they appear to be able to sing really well live," said an industry source. The system is being seen as a godsend for Posh - who is known for her particularly weak singing voice.
We applaud the Girls' (and their handlers') dedication to giving the people a show that's at least sort of on-key--if only the computers could also completely rewrite "Holler," while they're at it! But we have to wonder about the shock expressed by people who, later in the piece, expressconcern with the purity of the "live experience" at these shows. Apparently, the reporter at the Mail was only allowed to interview people who a) had never seen the Girls live and b) think that people in music videos are really singing, too. When the girls sing out of tune on stage, the mistakes in their voices are instantaneously corrected - in less than a tenth of a second - by computer to perfect the pitch and tone. And it is this remastered "virtual voice" which belts out across the arena. The girls' vocals are altered so quickly that it will appear the resulting perfect voices are live and their own.
The system is not miming as such, because they are not just mouthing music to a backing track.
But the voices of Ginger (Geri Halliwell), Scary (Melanie Brown), Sporty (Melanie Chisholm), Baby (Emma Bunton) and Posh (Victoria Beckham) are actually changed to make them better.
"As they sing, the computer program corrects the mistakes so that the sound comes out as the desired sound - so they appear to be able to sing really well live," said an industry source. The system is being seen as a godsend for Posh - who is known for her particularly weak singing voice.
Spice Girls need computer power to boost their weak voices [Daily Mail]
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