<<<  <<  -- 5 --  Gordon Rumson    'IT'S ALL LIP-SYNCHED'  --  >>  >>>

And what if the music we are hearing was actually created, edited, multi-tracked and compiled in a studio, and the performer merely mimes the words? Are we then getting the real thing? There are three levels here: First, lip-synching; second, real-time adjustment of performances; third, studio-produced music.

There is a very serious difference between lip-synching and merely prerecording tracks. Albums thrive in the complexity of multi-tracking. Considering that the modern sound ideal is multi-layered, this effect can only practically be produced in the studio. Any performer that doesn't make use of the full resources of the modern electronic studio when available is probably a Luddite. Amazing things can be done in the studio and most of them contribute greatly to musical creation.

Problems mount when the studio sound ideal is taken out of the studio.

The Beatles ran afoul of fans dissatisfied with the live performance renditions of studio-produced album music. It is not unusual for people to complain that a live performance is not like the studio version. What is a musician to do when the ethos is 'Give the public what it wants!'?

Lip-synching answers the demand of the audience for a rendition that is the same as the CD, album, or mp3 that they listen to. 'You want the same stuff, not a live performance that may be different? Fine, then. Here it is.'

Thus there is a natural progression from studio recording to lip-synching.

Lip-synching also answers a very real performance problem as well. Rod Stewart once complained that it's hard to sing and dance at the same time, and he is quite right. The expectation of doing those two advanced aerobic activities simultaneously is probably absurd, except for the very few, and even then, only sometimes. As much expect a pianist to also do the soft-shoe.

Lip-synching a public performance to a prerecorded track solves the performance problem, the video editing issue and the audience expectation problem. A three run homer. Not bad.

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