russ reign Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 Is it just me or is everyone on all these message boards constantly cracking on vocals of late? It seems like everyone is bashing DJs that play vocals and saying vocals are commercial cheese etc...Now I agree, some vocals are flat out corny, but just because a song has lyrics doesn't automatically make it commercial...This coming from a major hard-house fan (and for of you who've seen me spin in a big room, you know I play REALLY hard)And, from a production standpoint, it's 100% more difficult to produce a vocal or remix than a track...Just my 2 cents...Opinions?------------------Upcoming Gigs:Fridays - Cream, NYC12/30 - Webster Hall12/31 - Arena, Albany NY12/6 - Arena, ALbany NY1/13 - Slopes, Hunter MountainSat Dec. 30th - 92.7 & 98.5 FM 3-5amwww.djrussreign.comNY METS 2000 NL CHAMPS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooana Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 Russ, I don't know about anyone else but nothing makes me groove like a good vocal track.I know next to nothing about what it takes to mix a good record but I do know what I like, and a DJ who can pull off an excellent vocal is tops in my book.-Oo------------------"When the soul wishes to experience something, she throws an image of the experience out before her, and enters into her own image."---"You have wings! Why don't I have wings?!"---"Cause you're a boy, silly.""For the Greeks, the hidden life demanded invisible ink. They wrote an ordinary letter and in between the lines set out to write another letter, written in milk. The document looked innocent enough until one who knew better sprinkled coal-dust over it. What the letter had been no longer mattered: what mattered was the life flaring up undetected..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysteriousss Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 I have no idea how it's possible NOT to like vocals. There are a lot of cheezy ones, yes but there are SO many AWESOME ones too!!! I absolutely LOVE good vocals and love seeing everyone around me sing along and dance their asses off to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickijay Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 Yep, I agree....why is it automatically "cheese" if vocals are involved??? That's nuts! Variety, that's what it's all about!------------------ Boink like a snow bunny!!!uknj@aol.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suedenyc Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 As anyone who really knows me will tell you...I'm a compulsive singer!!! I have to sing...I need to sing...I sing to anything. I would be nothing without my vocals.I love being tripped out on trance & hard house but I have to admit...sometimes I have my own vocals going on in my head where no one else can hear them!!!------------------Peace,Love & Hairgrease,Rich Suede Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomaskm1 Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 I think a well placed vocal can create an unparrelled magical moment on the floor, ie Sasha dropping HideU at 9am. On the same note, I feel that too many divas spoil a mix as well. The beauty of electronic music is the fact it is void of the boundaries that a spoken language creates. A sequence of sounds and a steady rhythm pattern has brought people together through dance since the dawn of time and continues to do so which I think is truely universal, recapturing the essence of the human spirit, recreating the future primitive. To many people rely on a song to create a moment that last only as long as the four or five minutes that the song lasts, but a jock who builds his groove off an intrinsict rhythm can hold your attention for hours...With that said here are three vocals that float my boat...-Natalie Coleman "Love Song" BIR mix.-Angel "Kites" Fade vocal mix-Supa DJ Dimitry "So High" ------------------parish...-beat slacker mac-AIM= thomaskm1/ Parish@clubplanet.com"Computer games don't affect kids. I mean if Pac-Manaffected us as kids, we'd all run around in a darkened room munching pills and listening to repetitive music." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
az-tec Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 Originally posted by thomaskm1:I think a well placed vocal can create an unparrelled magical moment on the floor, ie Sasha dropping HideU at 9am. On the same note, I feel that too many divas spoil a mix as well. The beauty of electronic music is the fact it is void of the boundaries that a spoken language creates. A sequence of sounds and a steady rhythm pattern has brought people together through dance since the dawn of time and continues to do so which I think is truely universal, recapturing the essence of the human spirit, recreating the future primitive. To many people rely on a song to create a moment that last only as long as the four or five minutes that the song lasts, but a jock who builds his groove off an intrinsict rhythm can hold your attention for hours...With that said here are three vocals that float my boat...-Natalie Coleman "Love Song" BIR mix.-Angel "Kites" Fade vocal mix-Supa DJ Dimitry "So High" Werd. couldnt have said it better myself.-A------------------And Everything Will Flow....Flow....Flow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sariman Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 Ok, Ooana's gonna wanna kick my ass, but I heard DT spin on New Years and he was kicking some REALLY deep hard house all night. Though when he started spinning vocals I just kind of dropped out of it. Some vocals are ok I agree... two of my favorite songs (Five Fathoms, and Flowerz) are both semi-vocal tracks. But, personally I'm not into the disco-age "gay" house vocals. That's just me though... I like it smooth and trancey or hard and banging. The funkier the better.my $0.02, unleash the mob //sariman------------------P eaceL oveU nityR espect"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today!" -- James Dean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ reign Posted January 2 Author Report Share Posted January 2 Your example of "Hide You" is exactly what I'm talking about... Yes it's a vocal, yes it's beautiful, yes it's an engineering masterpiece - yet probably 99% of "mainstream" clubbers have never heard of it and it's not played to death on the radio... SO, IMO, it's not commercial... Originally posted by thomaskm1:I think a well placed vocal can create an unparrelled magical moment on the floor, ie Sasha dropping HideU at 9am. On the same note, I feel that too many divas spoil a mix as well. The beauty of electronic music is the fact it is void of the boundaries that a spoken language creates. A sequence of sounds and a steady rhythm pattern has brought people together through dance since the dawn of time and continues to do so which I think is truely universal, recapturing the essence of the human spirit, recreating the future primitive. To many people rely on a song to create a moment that last only as long as the four or five minutes that the song lasts, but a jock who builds his groove off an intrinsict rhythm can hold your attention for hours...With that said here are three vocals that float my boat...-Natalie Coleman "Love Song" BIR mix.-Angel "Kites" Fade vocal mix-Supa DJ Dimitry "So High" ------------------Upcoming Gigs:Fridays - Cream, NYC12/6 - Arena, ALbany NY1/13 - Slopes, Hunter Mountain1/19 - NAMM, Los AngelesSat Jan. 20th - 92.7 & 98.5 FM 3-5amwww.djrussreign.comNY METS 2000 NL CHAMPS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomaskm1 Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 I think even a more popular vocal tune can peak a moment, commercial or not. I have a weak spot for Alice Deejay for some reason, but I think whats at hand here, what most longterm and educated house heads complain about is much in tune with the artical Vicious wrote in the first edition of your zine. Here he alluded to audiences tasted being conditioned by industry/politcal radio. When thats all you know, your basis of comparison is shallower and there a fewer songs that make there way into the ears of the masses. Taste is subjective, but the more flavors you have in which you make that opinion makes your pallet richer. ------------------parish...-beat slacker mac-AIM= thomaskm1/ Parish@clubplanet.com"Computer games don't affect kids. I mean if Pac-Manaffected us as kids, we'd all run around in a darkened room munching pills and listening to repetitive music." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstgeorge2 Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 Originally posted by russ reign:Is it just me or is everyone on all these message boards constantly cracking on vocals of late? It seems like everyone is bashing DJs that play vocals and saying vocals are commercial cheese etc...Now I agree, some vocals are flat out corny, but just because a song has lyrics doesn't automatically make it commercial...This coming from a major hard-house fan (and for of you who've seen me spin in a big room, you know I play REALLY hard)And, from a production standpoint, it's 100% more difficult to produce a vocal or remix than a track...Just my 2 cents...Opinions?I'm not looking at it from a production standpoint or on how hard it is to produce a vocal or remix. See I paint, and I look at vocals as a stroke on a painting. But a Vocal is stoke a highly defined and is representational. So a vocal is telling someone some thing. just as if I painted a stick figure, a person will call it a "man". But raw sounds are less able to be label or defined. Causing a person to get lost in the "rawness" of the moment, rather then analyzing the words. But if your able to mix a vocal sound, and remove all definition and context from it turning it into pure sound. That is nice stuff. I’m in love with Japanese Noise Music, Experimental and Drum’n’Bass so you have an idea where I am coming from.Dan------------------"You all laugh at me becasue I'm different, I laugh at you because your all the same." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooana Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 Originally posted by sariman:Ok, Ooana's gonna wanna kick my ass, but I heard DT spin on New Years and he was kicking some REALLY deep hard house all night. Though when he started spinning vocals I just kind of dropped out of it. Some vocals are ok I agree... two of my favorite songs (Five Fathoms, and Flowerz) are both semi-vocal tracks. But, personally I'm not into the disco-age "gay" house vocals. That's just me though... I like it smooth and trancey or hard and banging. The funkier the better.my $0.02, unleash the mob //sariman<kicks Ben's ass> <grins> J/K, Ben. I know what you mean though, seriously. Like I said an AMAZING vocal track can make me groove like nothing else. A mediocre one won't. What was great for me that night with Danny was the timing in which he started to play the vocals/classics. If he had done it earlier in the night he would have lost me. But he didn't so....he got me hard and good right where I needed it. <cackles>-Oo------------------"When the soul wishes to experience something, she throws an image of the experience out before her, and enters into her own image."---"You have wings! Why don't I have wings?!"---"Cause you're a boy, silly.""For the Greeks, the hidden life demanded invisible ink. They wrote an ordinary letter and in between the lines set out to write another letter, written in milk. The document looked innocent enough until one who knew better sprinkled coal-dust over it. What the letter had been no longer mattered: what mattered was the life flaring up undetected..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LikmyLipz Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 I am surely a VOCAL WHORE.. If i could go to a club. and all they played was house and trance vocals all nite.. i would deff visit atleast 2 times a month.. i personally like vocals alot better.. and if i knew how to spin, i guarentee my lineup would have most dancin there lil tuckess off.. Even if a track becomes commercial, some remember how much a vocal track can mean to a person.. I know some of the factory headz are gonna remember ~mylove~ This is the only song i have ever EVER seen that had made some ghb induced coma patients Get up off the floor and start dancin there asses off.. Great vocals will also make for a great vibe..in 2000 we had alot of great vocals introduced into the club scene.. you might hate them now because there 'commercial' but i'm sure you all have fond memories to go with themBt~I love you (remembers at pvd he played this, i cryed)Zhana~more then lifeDeborah Cox~i never knewI personally am fond of EBTG~Temperamental(hex hector Mac quayle dub)Angun~Secret of the sea(fineally released on vinyl this year!)Black Legend~we'll be in troubleMel C~i turn to youModjo~LadyRui Da silva~touch meAndreas Johnson~gloriousNomad~i wonderAmanda Ghost~IdolCoco Lee~where ever you goKarissa Noel~corruptDeblah Morgan~Dance With me(jp)Any Remix Of Jewl~HandsPVD~Alive..COME ON PEOPLE THE LIST GOES ON AND ON!'Memories dont live like people do, they always member you'HEHEHE XOXOXOXO MWWWWAH LOVE YOU ALL!------------------~LiPz~ aim:LikmyLipzicq:101504929"A good man is hard to find, A hard man is Good to find"/>http://hometown.aol.com/lipzlipzlipz/LIPZ.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidtodd Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 vocal trax can be the most transcendent point in a night. if the dj builds to it right, that vocal cutting through the mix can be the moment that makes you go "oh yeah-right here right now is where it's at".that said, i think vocals should be used like a spice. a whole night of even really good vocal tracks is just boring. give me some beats and some bass first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 I love my hairbrush... ~*Jam*~ "gottalovevocals" ------------------Email: ynicholas@aol.comAIM: ynicholas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkysoulbro Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 You didn't hear about vocal bashing tuesdays???? It's the hottest thing out there right now!!------------------Fatboy Slim is Fucking in Heaven! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ reign Posted January 2 Author Report Share Posted January 2 Word. I hear ya... 100% agreement.... Originally posted by davidtodd:vocal trax can be the most transcendent point in a night. if the dj builds to it right, that vocal cutting through the mix can be the moment that makes you go "oh yeah-right here right now is where it's at".that said, i think vocals should be used like a spice. a whole night of even really good vocal tracks is just boring. give me some beats and some bass first.------------------Upcoming Gigs:Fridays - Cream, NYC12/6 - Arena, ALbany NY1/13 - Slopes, Hunter Mountain1/19 - NAMM, Los AngelesSat Jan. 20th - 92.7 & 98.5 FM 3-5amwww.djrussreign.comNY METS 2000 NL CHAMPS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibclubbin Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 Well, Russ you know how i feel about vocals from our discussion on the www.musicplayer.com forum (everyone check that out!!!) but let me put a little something down over here....I like tracks with vocals..I love something to sing to, and I love to play something that makes people want to sing and dance, but as far as I am concerned, the vocal part is not as important as the beat behind it. Most singers have good voices, whether they be deep-diva, hiphop, or anything else, but its not so much what they say or how they say it, but rather the flow behind it. I listen to "More Than Life", and I sing along, but I dont consciously pay attention to the words, but rather then the tempo behind it, which seems to change throughout the song. Its the changes in the beat that pick up my pace and get me moving.As far as "commercial" stuff goes, I usually cringe when I hear a good song hit the radio, because that means everyone will hear it, love it, and it will die so much sooner. UNLESS, the song is so amazing that it will never get old, and bringing it back a few months or years later in the middle of a set will always get a good reaction.On a side note, who is Louie Devito and why does this guy represent house music to the mainstream???? People come up to me and ask me if I have heard his cd....I say yeah, and I was playing the songs off it months ago. The props that he is getting should be going to you Russ. Im sure you wouldnt mind some of the money either fuck $.02, I gave you guys at least a nickel!BG------------------ruhardhouse@yahoo.comIBclubbin@aol.comemail for gig info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myrlin Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 Did someone say Hide U?**perks his ears up**------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echostar Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 i think if theyre used right vocals can be cool...but sometimes theyre just too complicated ------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goclick Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 davidtodd said it right,,,you build the moment, the energy, the journey and there in the middle you drop that vocal,,,I've seen PVD and DT do it,,,it's magical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melichacha Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 Personally, I love vocals and being able to sing along is fun... but I have to agree with just about everyone who has replied -- all good things in moderation. There's few tings as enjoyable for me as when a good dj can skillfully break things up with a vocal (as opposed to making it feel like the vocal is a major interruption to the flow of a set). - Meli - ------------------ "MeliChaCha -- Saving the world before bedtime... wait... I'm supposed to SLEEP?!""I've said it before and I'll say it again: Life moves pretty fast -- if you don't stop and look around every once in a while, you might miss it." - The incomparable Ferris Bueller... and to all my people, "Peace -- and Humpty-ness forever!" AIM: MeliChaChaE-MAIL: MeliChaCha@powerpuff.com <--- new addy! OR MeliChaCha@aol.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
back2basics- Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 You wont get any knocking of vocals from me... but I just got back from the UK which is in a hard house frenzy at the moment, and I have this to say about it...Hard House = The most soulless, drug addled, music by numbers new sound I have ever had the misfortune to be exposed to. God I hate it, about half the songs out there have been done by 18 year olds with some loop software on their PC. This just could be the start of me getting old and not understanding the new craze with the kids, but I don't think so.Ok in moderation some can work, there is a good mix of that Blade Nation song knocking around, but more than a few hours of the same old beat and stripped back melodies makes my ears bleed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djgeorgec Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 I agree.The human voice is powerful. period. (provided that the person can sing)------------------george cpromotions@syndicateproductions.comwww.syndicateproductions.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassboy Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 moderation... no diggity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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