James LaBrie's Tone?

If this turns into a flaming thread, I hope Wey locks this.

I just have a question: Mr. LaBrie has amazing performances all around, both studio and live.  I have noticed, though, that his tone in the studio and his tone in the live setting is a bit different.  In the studio, he has a cleaner, more straightforward tone of voice, but live, he has an incredibly rich, powerful, layered tone of voice.

Does anyone know why he differs in the live setting?  He sounds incredible, but I was wondering if he is using a different vocal technique.

Whatever it is, I love the pirate dearly.  Rock on.

At the risk of being flamed, I apologise if I'm wrong here...but my guess is studio touch-up is the reason

When he sings live the microphone's just for show

Maybe a different technique he uses makes it sound that way? I mean, he probably changes his singing in order to be able to keep his voice in shape for extended periods of time during tours. And maybe you just prefer that way of singing?

I prefer studio James to live James in most cases.  That's not to say he's a bad performer.  I think he's a terrific performer, but you've only got one shot to get it right live, whereas, in the studio, you have unlimited chances at different takes........

KirksNoseHair

I prefer studio James to live James in most cases.

For me it was the same from 1994 until ca. 2005. Now I prefer his live tone again. Especially from the recent shows. I really think he has improved. Sometimes it's hard for him to nail the IAW/Awake songs - but it's A LOT better than back in 2002 or 2004. I heard him sing The Mirror/Lie in 2009 and found it a shame that they did not play Awake in its entirety for a YtseJam release. It would have been waaay better than WDADReunite (on which he sucked a little bit). He has developed a stronger and rougher, yet better controlled voice and I prefer that over his old "clean" singing. On SC he has not really finished this development, but now he is in full control of this style.

I wonder if he could do the e.g. Killing Hand LAtM screams again, which I really miss... but let's not forget he also had some bad days back in '93! From the BC&SL tour I have hardly ever heard any JLB flaws. And his "new" tone rowwwcks. Long singeth the pirate!

Taffer


At the risk of being flamed, I apologise if I'm wrong here...but my guess is studio touch-up is the reason

Not flaming but thats a bit cynical chap? Especially as a singer who has had issues with maintaining his voice the guy is bound to take a different approach to singing when he has to stand in a nice air conditioned booth with weeks and weeks to record his lines than he is when he is stood in front of thousands of people having to hit the notes dead on all night, and knows that he will have to for up to another year.

In the studio, you can EQ the voice to take away the nasal tone, etc.       

ViolinTheater


Does anyone know why he differs in the live setting?

Because it's live?

FlashCE


In the studio, you can EQ the voice to take away the nasal tone, etc.       

So can you when you're live. It's called a live sound engineer.

Most of the differences come from his need to use a slightly different technique live for all the reasons stated above. It's a much different situation and if he plans to keep his voice for a couple more decades he can't possibly sing like he does in the studio (both technically and stylistically).

FourLittleDiamonds

Taffer


At the risk of being flamed, I apologise if I'm wrong here...but my guess is studio touch-up is the reason

Not flaming but thats a bit cynical chap? Especially as a singer who has had issues with maintaining his voice the guy is bound to take a different approach to singing when he has to stand in a nice air conditioned booth with weeks and weeks to record his lines than he is when he is stood in front of thousands of people having to hit the notes dead on all night, and knows that he will have to for up to another year.

Aye true. I'm just going against his voice in Chaos in Motion, and that's from shows all over the tour
Yeah obviously he's gotta maintain his voice, as so many do. But obviously he's gonna sound better in the studio with re-takes and a little engineering. Point is, obviously he's gonna sound different in the studio

I'll say something good about him, I really love the way he makes sure he sings every syllable the right way in the studio. He seems to make it so precise...I dunno. Like he really thinks it through.

Taffer


Like he really thinks it through.

I would hope so...

Taffer

FourLittleDiamonds

Taffer


At the risk of being flamed, I apologise if I'm wrong here...but my guess is studio touch-up is the reason

Not flaming but thats a bit cynical chap? Especially as a singer who has had issues with maintaining his voice the guy is bound to take a different approach to singing when he has to stand in a nice air conditioned booth with weeks and weeks to record his lines than he is when he is stood in front of thousands of people having to hit the notes dead on all night, and knows that he will have to for up to another year.

Aye true. I'm just going against his voice in Chaos in Motion, and that's from shows all over the tour
Yeah obviously he's gotta maintain his voice, as so many do. But obviously he's gonna sound better in the studio with re-takes and a little engineering. Point is, obviously he's gonna sound different in the studio

I'll say something good about him, I really love the way he makes sure he sings every syllable the right way in the studio. He seems to make it so precise...I dunno. Like he really thinks it through.

Yeah, Mark, that's true.  Mr. LaBrie also really strives to put as much color into his voice as possible, and to really emote the true feeling of the lyrics/music he is singing.  It makes him much more than a singer, it makes him a true artist. 

Taffer


At the risk of being flamed, I apologise if I'm wrong here...but my guess is studio touch-up is the reason

I think you're quite right.

Make no mistake people, there is autotune on James in the studio.

Not that he needs it I'm sure, but everyone does it.  Just to make it that much more perfect.

^But I saw the video of Chaos in Progress and Mr. LaBrie was singing in the studio on camera flawlessly.

1hByTheLakeOfFire

Taffer


Like he really thinks it through.

I would hope so...

Heheh, you make it sound like I'm impressed that he simply tries to do his job good. What I meant is that I admire the.......passion he clearly has for singing every word on an album the best way possible. He's very emotive. I think he said himself that he tries to put his mind in the lyrics to understand them so he can portray the words perfectly. Think that shows.

ViolinTheater


^But I saw the video of Chaos in Progress and Mr. LaBrie was singing in the studio on camera flawlessly.

I've seen it too, and it definitely is really really good.  But like I said, it's just there to make it that much better.

Soundchaser

Taffer


At the risk of being flamed, I apologise if I'm wrong here...but my guess is studio touch-up is the reason

I think you're quite right.

Make no mistake people, there is autotune on James in the studio.

Not that he needs it I'm sure, but everyone does it.  Just to make it that much more perfect.

But that has little to do with the tone of his voice in the studio vs live. It's more about the style he sings and his enunciation rather than just intonation, although it does dampen the vibrato slightly.

He definitely uses a LOT more vibrato live than in the studio, that's for sure. And let's face it, singing live is a whole other situation than singing in the studio. I guess he uses certain techniques live that help him sing for 2+ hours every night. If not, he would probably be out of the game after a few nights. So he has to somehow sing in an "efficient" way and somehow manage to not get his voice too tired after a few nights.

szabiakanich


He definitely uses a LOT more vibrato live than in the studio, that's for sure. And let's face it, singing live is a whole other situation than singing in the studio. I guess he uses certain techniques live that help him sing for 2+ hours every night. If not, he would probably be out of the game after a few nights. So he has to somehow sing in an "efficient" way and somehow manage to not get his voice too tired after a few nights.

That's what I was wondering.  Maybe letting his voice free and letting it vibrate allows it to stay open and not forced instead of controlling it every night?  I don't know anything about voice so I don't know.

Can any vocalists come in on this and explain?

He definitely uses a LOT more vibrato live than in the studio, that's for sure. And let's face it, singing live is a whole other situation than singing in the studio. I guess he uses certain techniques live that help him sing for 2+ hours every night. If not, he would probably be out of the game after a few nights. So he has to somehow sing in an "efficient" way and somehow manage to not get his voice too tired after a few nights.


That's what I was wondering.  Maybe letting his voice free and letting it vibrate allows it to stay open and not forced instead of controlling it every night?  I don't know anything about voice so I don't know.

Can any vocalists come in on this and explain?

This. I've studied Vocal Health a bit and if James sang every night like he sings in the studio (where they can control how much time has to rest his voice, humidity, temperature, etc.) He would never have a voice. He is a classically (read: operatic) trained singer. They NEED to use vibrato when singing 'out'. People with no training might find it easier to straight-tone everything, but people who have JLB's training must use a lot of vibrato to keep the mechanism going and be able to sing for 2 hours a night. Overall, it's a much healthier way to sing, when his voice absolutely needs to remain healthy, lest the band lose revenue.

tomtom192

He definitely uses a LOT more vibrato live than in the studio, that's for sure. And let's face it, singing live is a whole other situation than singing in the studio. I guess he uses certain techniques live that help him sing for 2+ hours every night. If not, he would probably be out of the game after a few nights. So he has to somehow sing in an "efficient" way and somehow manage to not get his voice too tired after a few nights.


That's what I was wondering.  Maybe letting his voice free and letting it vibrate allows it to stay open and not forced instead of controlling it every night?  I don't know anything about voice so I don't know.

Can any vocalists come in on this and explain?

This. I've studied Vocal Health a bit and if James sang every night like he sings in the studio (where they can control how much time has to rest his voice, humidity, temperature, etc.) He would never have a voice. He is a classically (read: operatic) trained singer. They NEED to use vibrato when singing 'out'. People with no training might find it easier to straight-tone everything, but people who have JLB's training must use a lot of vibrato to keep the mechanism going and be able to sing for 2 hours a night. Overall, it's a much healthier way to sing, when his voice absolutely needs to remain healthy, lest the band lose revenue.

And on top of that, IT SOUNDS EFFIN AWESOME !!!

Well YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

http://jlbscream.ytmnd.com/old/

I know, I know, it's been posted a billion times.  But i LOVE it.

Xulid


Well YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

http://jlbscream.ytmnd.com/old/

I know, I know, it's been posted a billion times.  But i LOVE it.

It's always worth re-posting, especially if some people(me) havenae clicked it before

Taffer


At the risk of being flamed, I apologise if I'm wrong here...but my guess is studio touch-up is the reason

If you get flamed for that, then we have some serious denial problems around here.

^ welcome to the forum :P aha

I don't know anything to say regarding his studio/live setting.

But what I can say is that I honestly think that it took Labrie about 15 years to come back to form 100% after his illness after Awake.
I really love him on every album, but to me his performance on BC&SL is just awesome. And so were his performance on Awake.

And because of this I think that his live performace has become as awesome as it has been once.

something_wicked

Xulid


Well YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

http://jlbscream.ytmnd.com/old/

I know, I know, it's been posted a billion times.  But i LOVE it.

It's always worth re-posting, especially if some people(me) havenae clicked it before

The man is a beast!

His voice has changed ever since the poisoning incident in '94-95. I don't think he'll ever be able to scream like that ever again (LATM Killing Hand, for example).

The truth is that his voice was damaged. He's lost that 'harshness' he used to have. Or maybe he can't do it anymore in case of damaging the voice further. I don't know anything about vocal technique so am only guessing here.

All I know is that JLB is sounding better and better as each year goes by. He was practically flawless on the BC&SL Tour.

I'm just saying that I don't think his voice will allow him to scream like that anymore.

Liquid Drum Theater


His voice has changed ever since the poisoning incident in '94-95. I don't think he'll ever be able to scream like that ever again (LATM Killing Hand, for example).

The truth is that his voice was damaged. He's lost that 'harshness' he used to have. Or maybe he can't do it anymore in case of damaging the voice further. I don't know anything about vocal technique so am only guessing here.

All I know is that JLB is sounding better and better as each year goes by. He was practically flawless on the BC&SL Tour.

I'm just saying that I don't think his voice will allow him to scream like that anymore.

On the same note, he also lost that really really warm tone he used to have in his singing, but not it has so much more power.

@ViolinTheater
Do you have some examples of this "warm" tone? How about Wither or the end of TCoT?

cosmotobe


@ViolinTheater
Do you have some examples of this "warm" tone? How about Wither or the end of TCoT?

I realized what I wrote makes no sense.  Yes, Wither and TCOT is very warm in his singing, as is TBOT.

I love all aspects of his voice, but when he was younger, he really had this warm, vibrating, easy pop/like voice that really fit with whatever he sang.  Now, he has a more structured, layered, powerful voice that just soars, but the tone, pronunciation, and overall feel Mr. LaBrie gives the music has lost some of that early, (i hate to say it) poppy, "young" style he used to have.

Of course, that is because times change, he is aging gracefully, his voice is better than ever, and I really see that he is bringing all that he can emote to all the songs he sings.

Besides the amazing musicianship, what drew me to DT was the tone of LaBrie's voice. Numerous times I would hear a new band, well at least new to me, and I dug it up until the vocals began. SO many of these prog bands I hear have great musicians however the vocals sound very cheesy and dated. LaBrie's vocal tone did not sound dated or 80's hair band cheesy to me. I will say though I prefer his studio vocals better than his live vocals but they have been doing this gig for over 20 years so that alone takes a toll on anyone's voice.

In some cases it would be voice doubling. 
EQ, while also present live, would be set differently to match the live environment.
His actual singing would be different because of a variety of reasons as well, including energy, the mentality of only having one chance to get it right, lack of repetition, and lack of direction from the producers.

Oh boy, there is already some flaming responses in this thread.

Like all singers, on stage they are going to do things differently. 

Michael Jackson on This Is It sang instead of lip synced except for one song.  That one song, They Don't Care About Us is extremely harsh on the voice and could throw it out for the rest of the show.

A part during the Earth Song that is harsh he sang pretty lightly so as to not throw it out.

James does a passagio technique which uses the nasal passage.  This helps sustain it for 3 hour concerts and 2 month tours. 

It is my suspicion that in the studio he can let loose *a little* more.  In other words, if he throws out his voice they only lose a day in the studio but have an awesome take that will last forever.  Obviously he can't push it to where he has another Cuba incident but as with most voices, it only takes a day to repair after using it excessively. 

Softball35


Besides the amazing musicianship, what drew me to DT was the tone of LaBrie's voice. Numerous times I would hear a new band, well at least new to me, and I dug it up until the vocals began. SO many of these prog bands I hear have great musicians however the vocals sound very cheesy and dated. LaBrie's vocal tone did not sound dated or 80's hair band cheesy to me. I will say though I prefer his studio vocals better than his live vocals but they have been doing this gig for over 20 years so that alone takes a toll on anyone's voice.

Th

e. I will say though I prefer his studio vocals better than his live vocals but they have been doing this gig for over 20 years so that alone takes a toll on anyone's voice.

This!!!  He is easily in my top-5 vocalists...his voice drew me to the band...and in some cases has been the saving grace to bring me back...

So Madman, did he not use that technique before the Cuba incident? Or during earlier tours, most likely pre-Train of Thought?  Because to me his voice has two distinct periods (the vocal rupture notwithstanding): Pre-2002 and Post-2002. 

That makes sense, though.  I can't imagine having to sing songs like he has to sing night in and night out for months at a time.  It's amazing to me he sounded so strong on Score, what with that being the last show of a World Tour with nothing but 3 hour sets.

Flaming responses?  I don't believe so...we all are debating this very politely and with good reasoning, and I don't see any responses here that insult Mr. LaBrie...and if they did, I would get very angry as this is not why I started the thread.

Yes, Madman, you hit it on the head I think, the nasal technique is what I was wondering, because he gets a very rich, sustained, powerful tone that I love, but its not as "clear" persay, as his studio singing.

colty42


So Madman, did he not use that technique before the Cuba incident? Or during earlier tours, most likely pre-Train of Thought?  Because to me his voice has two distinct periods (the vocal rupture notwithstanding): Pre-2002 and Post-2002. 

That makes sense, though.  I can't imagine having to sing songs like he has to sing night in and night out for months at a time.  It's amazing to me he sounded so strong on Score, what with that being the last show of a World Tour with nothing but 3 hour sets.

The fact that it was the end of a tour may have something to do with it. 

When i push myself day after day... eventually I improve significantly. 
 
Sure there was probably some studio polish after the recording took place...  but it ain't all Melodyne you're hearing on Score.  I'd be willing to bet money on it being 99 % James in fantastic vocal shape.