Terry wrote:
One thing that I don't think has been mentioned here yet regarding "Nashville" vocals, and the reasons for their possibly being consistently better in the technical sense, is the actual type of singing involved. Rock (and "Pop") music, which many of us use as the comparison, has taken on much more of singing in head voice, forcing the vocals to come farther up and back in the throat, often with forced "grain," and very often in the highest part of the range possible. This makes it sometimes difficult to achieve a consistent, solid tone, and often harder to maintain pitch.
Country vocalists almost always sing in a more accesible part of their range, and in a chest voice. This type of singing is closer to what many think of as "true" singing in the time honoured sense.
Every rock singer is not Robert Plant, but many, many have tried to be since he came on the scene. Neither are there very many with the "forced" vocal talents of a Rod Stewart or a Bryan Adams, but again, many try. Artists have also tried to emulate Bob Dylan, who would not be considered a "true" singer, but who emotes amazingly, and has his own distinctive style.
But in Nashville, more often than not, singers are breathing, singing from the chest, and generally following classic technique. Couple this with good engineering, good mic chain, and Autotune, and there is a big part of your "perfect" vocal. Of course, there is the occasional distinctive interpreter such as Willie Nelson or Kristoferson, but this is the exception in country music, not the norm.
In Hip Hop/Rap, fortunately they have eliminated the need for singing.[/quote]
O.K. Terry,
That's great that is part of what I'm looking for here. I kinda knew that, but I really love the way you have articulated it!
The other thing I am really noticing about the way this thread is unfolding is how everyone is bashing auto tune. Again I can see why; it's fairly obvious. The Objectionable artifacts are, well objectionable. But what I asked was not, "What's that horrible thing I hear?". Rather, What's that 'ear candy' I can't get? In other words, I actually LIKE some of that sound. Again, I can hear the down side of auto tune, but there is something good going on with auto tune or some other technique employed when mixing in the box.
I have not been able to get even close with my more traditional vocal techniques. I use some pretty classy gear. And It took me a long time to get where I'm at now. Then this new sound has arrived. I may have noticed it before, but it was not until I was forced to listen to CMT for literally 10 or 12 hours that it really sunk in -WOW while I spent Years getting the traditional Nashville sound, and Nashville (CMT format at least) has moved on and got a new sound.
I think I have found the answer to me original question, it's one or more in the box plugs. There really is an upside to this, as well as the down side. I mean in tune vocals are good. It's just that some of the artifacts are audible and not so good.
THANKS, so much,
Steve