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Post by Nighty on Sept 10, 2020 12:41:31 GMT
The whole album was not sped up as a whole, certain songs were. Or at least the single edits were, just take a listen to the Extended Dance Mix of Another Part of Me and you'll notice the key change. And Smooth Criminal on the album is in between keys, which does prove the speed was tampered with.
Weird side note - I know this is not from the Bad album but Billie Jean on Thriller is also an example of the speed being changed, thereof it's in between keys (it's between an F# and an F)..
I never noticed that. I definitely don't have the ears to notice key changes by about say, a quarter note. Do you know the reasoning for this? Was it for length issues? Is this a common practice in recordings?
I'm trying to find the sources while typing this but anyways - Bruce Swedien mentioned at some point (either in his book In The Studio with MJ or at the Gearslutz forums) that speeding up songs ever so slightly would "glue together" the sound better. And I also found this from studio engineer Russ Ragsdale:
"BAD was recorded on Tape as Pro Tools wasn’t out yet in fact our only computer in the Studio was Bruce’s Mac SE-30. The reason tracks are in between keys is a result from VSOing the tape, speeding it up a few cents to to brighten up the songs for radio. We had listening sessions, picking out just the right amounts of this treatment … very fun."
(https://michaeljackson.ru/in-the-recording-studio/)
Now, is this common practice? Not really, interesting enough. Bruce uses a whole lot of different techniques that sets him apart from most engineers (like recording things in true stereo instead of monaural)..
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Post by bedroom on Sept 10, 2020 16:05:16 GMT
I never noticed that. I definitely don't have the ears to notice key changes by about say, a quarter note. Do you know the reasoning for this? Was it for length issues? Is this a common practice in recordings?
I'm trying to find the sources while typing this but anyways - Bruce Swedien mentioned at some point (either in his book In The Studio with MJ or at the Gearslutz forums) that speeding up songs ever so slightly would "glue together" the sound better. And I also found this from studio engineer Russ Ragsdale:
"BAD was recorded on Tape as Pro Tools wasn’t out yet in fact our only computer in the Studio was Bruce’s Mac SE-30. The reason tracks are in between keys is a result from VSOing the tape, speeding it up a few cents to to brighten up the songs for radio. We had listening sessions, picking out just the right amounts of this treatment … very fun."
(https://michaeljackson.ru/in-the-recording-studio/)
Now, is this common practice? Not really, interesting enough. Bruce uses a whole lot of different techniques that sets him apart from most engineers (like recording things in true stereo instead of monaural)..
Cool stuff. I think I am gonna get that book. Thanks for your input Nighty. And welcome to the board!
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Sept 11, 2020 12:14:52 GMT
Was this used as the slow intro for TII? A lot of it sounds really similar.
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
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Post by TonyR on Sept 11, 2020 12:29:13 GMT
Was this used as the slow intro for TII? A lot of it sounds really similar. Yeah. First used on the Grammy's '88 performance. Always wished for a proper release on that. You know on something like Bad 25.
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Sept 11, 2020 12:54:04 GMT
Was this used as the slow intro for TII? A lot of it sounds really similar. Yeah. First used on the Grammy's '88 performance. Always wished for a proper release on that. You know on something like Bad 25. Man, I always thought those were live vocals haha, some bits sound different though so maybe it was a mix. Yeah it'd be cool for them to release it.
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Post by respect77 on Sept 11, 2020 21:19:27 GMT
Yeah. First used on the Grammy's '88 performance. Always wished for a proper release on that. You know on something like Bad 25. Man, I always thought those were live vocals haha, some bits sound different though so maybe it was a mix. Yeah it'd be cool for them to release it.
Brad talked about this during his seminar. It was recorded in a hotel room.
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Sept 11, 2020 22:14:37 GMT
Actually listening to the TII vocals they are totally different lol. Don't know why I thought they were the same.
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Sept 12, 2020 17:34:09 GMT
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Post by aazzaabb on Sept 12, 2020 23:50:27 GMT
Thanks for posting these SmoothGangsta. Some fans may feel with some of these tracks or ideas that there’s not really anything much that can be done with them, and might wonder where they would fit on an official release? But over the past few days I’ve listened to the entire Beatles Anthology albums -152 tracks- and many of them are jams or ideas that have been edited down into 4 or 5 minutes of the best moments. It’s a superb collection and it’s a blueprint that would work really well for MJ; 3 double albums, 25 tracks on each disc telling MJ’s story through demos, alternative takes, alternative mixes, work tape edits, interview snippets and a few live tracks. Don’t get me wrong, I have now excepted that something like that will never happen for MJ and I’m a peace with it now finally. For the sake of my sanity! At least we have these leaks, fan mixes and MJ’s official catalog. Still though nice to imagine if things had been different what could have been released.
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rhilo
Wondering Who
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Post by rhilo on Sept 14, 2020 5:06:08 GMT
Thanks for posting these SmoothGangsta. Some fans may feel with some of these tracks or ideas that there’s not really anything much that can be done with them, and might wonder where they would fit on an official release? But over the past few days I’ve listened to the entire Beatles Anthology albums -152 tracks- and many of them are jams or ideas that have been edited down into 4 or 5 minutes of the best moments. It’s a superb collection and it’s a blueprint that would work really well for MJ; 3 double albums, 25 tracks on each disc telling MJ’s story through demos, alternative takes, alternative mixes, work tape edits, interview snippets and a few live tracks. Don’t get me wrong, I have now excepted that something like that will never happen for MJ and I’m a peace with it now finally. For the sake of my sanity! At least we have these leaks, fan mixes and MJ’s official catalog. Still though nice to imagine if things had been different what could have been released. Never say never. I remain slightly optimistic that we'll get something eventually *prays to the music Gods*
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rhilo
Wondering Who
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Post by rhilo on Sept 14, 2020 5:07:40 GMT
[b Love this almost acoustic early version with Michael talking in-between.
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TonyR
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Post by TonyR on Sept 14, 2020 8:28:27 GMT
'Love is a donut' - always makes me smile!
Love hearing the evolution of this, amazing how much it grew.
Also, helps me imagine what the acoustic version that he could have performed at an Unplugged gig would have sounded like.
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Post by aazzaabb on Sept 14, 2020 21:24:06 GMT
Thanks for posting these SmoothGangsta . Some fans may feel with some of these tracks or ideas that there’s not really anything much that can be done with them, and might wonder where they would fit on an official release? But over the past few days I’ve listened to the entire Beatles Anthology albums -152 tracks- and many of them are jams or ideas that have been edited down into 4 or 5 minutes of the best moments. It’s a superb collection and it’s a blueprint that would work really well for MJ; 3 double albums, 25 tracks on each disc telling MJ’s story through demos, alternative takes, alternative mixes, work tape edits, interview snippets and a few live tracks. Don’t get me wrong, I have now excepted that something like that will never happen for MJ and I’m a peace with it now finally. For the sake of my sanity! At least we have these leaks, fan mixes and MJ’s official catalog. Still though nice to imagine if things had been different what could have been released. Never say never. I remain slightly optimistic that we'll get something eventually *prays to the music Gods* I really wish I could share your optimism. Thank god for the fan community is all I can say at this point.
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Sept 15, 2020 12:09:54 GMT
I would grab these before they're gone. I'm not sure about the smooth criminal one tbh.
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Post by pg13 on Sept 15, 2020 12:15:52 GMT
^^^I'd say correct that the SC demo above is fake as Michael had bass, but no drums for JR during the Bad recording sessions.
JR said he knew from previous experience that the drums would follow the bass pattern, so that's how he did it.
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